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Jackson Hole

admin North America Attractions, Travel Destinations, West Coast US Attractions, Wyoming State Attractions

Jackson is located in the Teton County, Wyoming. It is a town in the Jackson Hole valley, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 9,577, showing an increase from 8,647 population in 2000. It is a large town in this county seat.

Why visit Jackson Hole
Sandwiched to the north between Grand Teton National Park and national forest in miles in every other direction, the Jackson Hole valley is relatively cut off from the mushrooming travel industry. In fact, it has survived depending on local industries such as ranching, logging, and fur trading during the 19th century. However, Jackson Hole recently has promoted the rise of tourism. The earlier blue-collar settlements such as Grand Teton and Jackson now boast of remarkable art and performance venues. Precisely the simple remote place has transformed into featuring mega ski resorts into this winter wonderland.

The glam and glitz of Lake Tahoe or Aspen may be missing, but the vastness and the beauty of this region have not missed out on Hollywood celebs and politicos. The luxurious and fresh upgrade is apparent, yet Jackson Hole stays as the foremost mountain country heart featuring miles of open space and rugged trails recalling a beautiful time.

Best Times to Visit
The best times are from April to May, September to October. The weather even during these months may be unpredictable, such that the temperatures are low 30s to 60s and the prices may be at the lowest. However, in the summer, be prepared to pay for rocketing prices as visitors come in thousands to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. On winter trips, you can surely save few bucks, but not during summers.

History
The Jackson town acquired this name in late 1893 from Margaret Simpson. In those days she used to receive mail at her home as this town had no official post office. Thus, she gave a name to this town for easterners to forward the mail west. In 1914 Jackson became incorporated and acquired the name after ‘Davey’ David Edward who trapped in that area the beaver, and in the 1820s he became the partner of a firm of Smith, Jackson & Sublette. He was one among the foremost white men to spend in the Teton Mountains Valley the entire winter.

Native Americans used the valley for ceremonial purposes and hunting, and so was not known to harbor before the 1870s towards human settlement. The valley descriptions and its features were recorded in the John Colter Journals, who was the Lewis and Clark Expedition member. After coming back to the Rocky Mountains, Colter in 1807 entered the region in the vicinity of Togwotee Pass and thus was the first white American to see the valley. He made reports of the valley, the north side Yellowstone region and the Teton Range and that inspired people who viewed the valley and the regions till that day with uncertainty and disbelief.

The first to settle in this region were Native Americans, homesteaders and fur trappers. The valley was employed for cattle as the soil is unsuitable for crops rising. Fortunately, tourism caught up speed and popularity with the dude ranches establishment.

Jackson Hole in 2017 was rated as the best campsite in Wyoming in a 50-state conducted survey by Msn.com.

Fun Facts
 

  • Yellowstone was created in 1872; it was the first national park in the world and was built 18 years before Wyoming developed into a state.
  • In 1929 Grand Teton National Park was built, and in 1950 it was greatly expanded due to the resolute efforts of John D. Rockefeller, who bought it and donated the same over 30,000 acres.
  • The National Elk Refuge, was positioned just outside the Jackson town, is the North America established elk preserve. In the refuge, there are around 7,500 elk winter and tourists can get secure and nearby views on sleigh rides daily in the period of December to April.
  • 97 percent of 2,697,000 acres are federally owned or state managed in Teton County, including the Grand Teton National Park, the National Elk Refuge, and the Bridger-Teton National Forest.Land only 3% in the Jackson Hole area is owned privately.
  • The Bridger-Teton National Forest is the national forest second-largest in the lower 48 states, surrounding 3.4 million acres.
  • Jackson, Wyoming, in 1920 elected the first all-woman city council.
  • The first ski area of Wyoming was the Snow King Ski Area that opened in 1939 in Jackson.
  • In 1977, the U.S. Voyager II spacecraft launched to explore the unknown places of the solar system, and it contains Jackson Hole photograph as its artifacts cargo part.
  • The elk antlers public auction is held in the Jackson Town Square in May every year in the third week of Saturday. The antlers are cast in the National Elk Refuge by the elk and are collected by the local Boy Scouts. The majority proceeds of the auction go back to the refuge for the projects of habitat improvement and to hire seasonal operators for irrigation.
  • The first summer residency was held by The New York Philharmonic in Jackson Hole in its 147-year history during the year July 1989 in the first two weeks. Here, America’s oldest orchestra performed four concerts to benefit Jackson Hole’s Grand Teton Music Festival.
  • In 1971, the foremost person in this Grand Teton to ski down to 13,772-foot was Bill Briggs, a resident. In April 2009, the resident, Briggs was officially accepted into the National Ski Hall of Fame of the United States
  • The Snake River headquarters are located in Teton County.
  • In 1929, Jackson Hole was filmed and was reputed to be the foremost time John Wayne rode a horse here.
  • More than 15 feature films have been produced based on this location in Jackson Hole including: “Shane,” “Any Which Way You Can,” “Spencer’s Mountain,”  “Rocky IV,” and “Django Unchained.”
  • Jackson Hole Mountain Resort of any ski resort has the lowest base elevations in the Rocky Mountains, and that is just 6,311 feet. The other ski resorts in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico have around 6900 and 9500 feet as the base elevations.
  • There are more than 60 species of mammals, birds in 100 species, and half a dozen game fish found in the Jackson Hole/Yellowstone area. The popular are such as elk, deer, bison, moose, antelope, coyote, gray wolf, mountain lion, grizzly and black bears, rare birds like the osprey, blue heron, bald eagle, trumpeter swan, and native game fish namely the mountain whitefish and Snake River cutthroat trout.
  • Mountain men made use of the word hole describing valleys surrounded entirely by mountains.
  • Yellowstone National Park has 10,000 active thermal features. It is observed that Old Faithful erupts around every 77 minutes, or in every 45 and 110 minutes.
  • The Grand Teton first ascent record is the Grand Teton National Park highest peak, and it is a debate subject. In 1898, the first ascent who claimed the summit was William Owen, John Shive, Bishop Spalding, and Frank Petersen. However, it appears that John Stevenson and Nathaniel Langford climbed Grand Teton and preceded the Owen party as the two men were the 1872 Hayden Expedition members. The Yellowstone National Parks first superintendent was Nathaniel Langford.