Sight · Grand Teton National Park
A ranching story and open Teton views, right off the highway.
Overview
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Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Grand Teton Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Grand Teton National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Grand Teton audio tourRecorded for this place
Elk Ranch Flats: Cabins and Grazing Country“Up ahead is Elk Ranch Flats Turnout, a quick stop for open grazing country with the Tetons beyond. A few cabins remain from a cattle ranch assembled from several homesteads by Si Ferrin in the early nineteen hundreds.”
Plays as you drive up to Elk Ranch Flats Turnout in the Parkwolf Grand Teton Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“…We have been driving around with the audio tour and it has been informational and spot on. The whole family has been impressed. We used it for Yellowstone and Grand Teton.”
Guide
Elk Ranch Flats Turnout is a roadside pullout on US 26/89/191 near Moran, looking over open grazing flats toward the Tetons. It’s worth a short pause for the wide valley and the ranch story, especially as you drive past. Wildlife is part of the appeal, but not a promise: bison or horses are sometimes seen, while other visitors report no large animals or only distant ones.
In the early 1900s, David (Si) Ferrin consolidated several homesteads into one of the valley’s largest cattle ranches. Ranch headquarters had been homesteaded by Otto Kusche in 1911; Ferrin purchased it in 1920. After the late-1920s agricultural downturn, he sold to the Snake River Land Company. The land became part of the park in 1950, and a few cabins remain on the flats. Interpretive information here helps explain the ranching landscape.
Livestock, bison, elk, and pronghorn graze the fields, but sightings aren’t guaranteed. For a photo, let the flats fill the foreground and keep the Tetons beyond them; if bison are present, they’re a lucky addition to the scene.
Wildlife
172 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
195 sightingsBrown BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
32 sightingsGray WolfMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,816 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
614 sightingsBisonMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
738 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Grand Teton. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyCunningham Cabin Historic Trail0.2 mi · 15 min · 2.8 mi awayA short cabin walk for Jackson Hole history and Teton views.
ModerateSignal Mountain Trail6.8 mi · 4 hr · 4.7 mi awayA steady forest climb earns Jackson Lake and Teton views.
Sight · 2.5 mi awayPacific Creek LandingA useful take-out before the Snake turns faster and more braided.
Sight · 2.7 mi awayCunningham CabinA tiny homestead cabin with a big Teton view.
Sight · 3.3 mi awaySignal Mountain SummitA winding climb opens onto five ranges and a river-cut valley.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayCattlemans BridgeA quiet river stop where cattle history outlasted the bridge.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayJackson Point OverlookClear days bring four ranges and glacial kettles into view.
Scenic pullout · 3.5 mi awayEast Boundary TurnoutYour first Teton view arrives beside a big wooden park sign.
Lodging · 3.8 mi awayTriangle X Dude RanchRanch rides and meals, with the Tetons over the cabin porches.
Sight · 4 mi awayOxbow Bend TurnoutThe Snake River bend frames Mount Moran and the Teton Range.Parkwolf’s Grand Teton ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
