19 Lake Solitude

Description: A popular hike to the most famous wilderness lake in the Teton Range

Start: South Jenny Lake Visitor Center

Total distance: 15.2 miles out and back

Difficulty: Difficult

Best season: Mid-July through mid-Sept

Maps: Earthwalk Press Grand Teton map; National Park Service handout map

Finding the trailhead: Take US 89 north of Jackson for 11.5 miles and turn left (west) at the Moose Junction. Drive past the Moose Visitor Center and through the entrance station (about a mile after turning off the highway). Follow this paved park road for another 6.8 miles from the entrance station to the South Jenny Lake turnoff. Turn left (west) here and drive less than 0.5 mile to the South Jenny Lake Boat Dock and Visitor Center. From the north, drive 12.8 miles from the Jackson Lake Junction and turn right (west) at the South Jenny Lake turnoff. The South Jenny Lake area has a general store, visitor center, boat dock, toilet facilities, and usually plenty of room to park. This is a heavily used area, and the boat ride across the lake is very popular, so in midday during the summer, the parking lot can be full. From the South Jenny Lake Boat Dock, take the short boat ride across the lake to the west-shore boat dock. The boat leaves every fifteen to twenty minutes for a small fee. No facilities at the west-shore boat dock. Trailhead GPS: 43.751604 / -110.725388

The Hike

The mouth of Cascade Canyon around Hidden Falls is perhaps the most heavily used spot in the park. Thousands of park visitors take the scenic boat ride across Jenny Lake and mill around the falls and Inspiration Point for a while and then return. The area shows the wear and tear of this heavy use, but there’s a reason for it: The falls are spectacular, and you can get inspired from Inspiration Point. Most visitors to Hidden Falls don’t take the scenic hike up to Lake Solitude, so once you’ve gone past Inspiration Point, the traffic thins out dramatically.

The hike up the canyon climbs seriously for about the first mile and then goes into a gradual, almost unnoticeable ascent along the cascading stream on the Cascade Canyon Trail. The steep canyon gives you one outstanding view after another all the way to the junction where the trail splits into the South Fork to Hurricane Pass and the North Fork to Lake Solitude and Paintbrush Divide.

Lake Solitude in July, and why it’s better to wait for August. National Park Service

Go right (northwest) and start the gradual 2.7-mile upgrade to 9,035-foot Lake Solitude. About halfway up, after crossing the North Fork of Cascade Creek twice on footbridges, you break out of the forest into a wildflower-carpeted cirque, which will be implanted in your memory as one of the most beautiful places you have ever been. The lake itself is at timberline, so only a few scattered trees surround it.

Spend as much time as you have at Lake Solitude and then start the descent back to the boat dock. For most of the 2.7 miles down to the main trail, you’re staring at Grand Teton along with Mount Owen, Teewinot Peak, and other famous high points in the Teton Range. When you reach the main Cascade Canyon Trail, go left (east) and retrace your steps to Jenny Lake. Be sure to start back in time to catch the boat across the lake. If for some reason you miss the boat, you can hike along the south shore of the lake 2 miles to the east-shore boat dock.

Camping: You can camp in the North Fork Cascade Camping Zone, which starts shortly after you turn right at the fork in the main trail and goes up to within about a half mile of the lake. With one or two exceptions, these are memorable campsites with great views, all in the shadow of Grand Teton. You have good access to water, privacy, and two or more tent sites. Keep in mind that you can camp at any of the eleven indicated sites but aren’t required to do so. You can set up a no-trace camp anywhere in the camping zone.

Option: If you want to leave early in the morning or don’t like boats, you can hike along the south shore of Jenny Lake to get to the Hidden Falls area. This would add about 4 miles to your hike.

Side trip: If you have the energy and time (and make sure you have both), you can extend your trip to the top of Paintbrush Divide, another 2.4 miles above Lake Solitude. This adds 4.8 miles to the total distance of this trip.

Miles and Directions

0.0South Jenny Lake Visitor Center

0.2Junction with Jenny Lake Trail; go straight onto Cascade Canyon Trail

0.5Hidden Falls and junction with spur trail to Hidden Falls Overlook

0.9Inspiration Point

1.6Horse bypass trail

4.9Trail splits into South and North Fork Cascade Canyon Trails; turn right

7.6Lake Solitude

15.2South Jenny Lake Visitor Center