Sight · Grand Teton National Park
A long, marshy loop rewards patient hikers with a high lakeside perch.
Overview
Map
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 area
Oxbow Bend and Mount Moran“Up ahead is Oxbow Bend, a broad curve of the Snake River with Mount Moran beyond it. Stop here if you want a mountain-and-river view without a hike; the roadside viewing area is wheelchair accessible.”
Plays on the road 1 mi from Emma Matilda Lake 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
Emma Matilda Lake is a 2.7-mile-long natural lake in Grand Teton’s northeast, not a drive-up shore stop. Start at Two Ocean Lake Trailhead. The full loop around the lake is 10.7 miles; the National Park Service estimates 5–7 hours and calls it moderately strenuous. Low, wet ground can be muddy, and summer mosquitoes are a real part of the visit. The route becomes accessible after spring snowmelt, and dogs aren’t allowed.
Much of the shore is screened by willows, so the lake doesn’t show itself as one open panorama. About five miles into the loop, Lookout Rock rises roughly 30 feet over the water and looks across the lake toward Mt. Moran and the northern Tetons. For photos, use the outlet stream and marsh grass in the foreground, or catch the aspen groves on the north and west side in fall.
Early to mid-summer brings wildflowers to the shore meadows; the same wet, marshy ground is also mosquito-heavy. Kingfishers, Canada geese and common loons have been seen around the water. Treat them as possibilities, not a checklist.
Emma Matilda Lake is named for Emma Matilda Owen, wife of William O. Owen, who organized and joined the first recorded ascent of Grand Teton in 1898 with three other climbers.
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
EasyChristian Pond Overlook Trail1 mi · 45 min · 1.3 mi awayA short moraine climb for a bird’s-eye pond view.
ModerateGrand View Point Trail5.8 mi · 3.5 hr · 1.4 mi awayThree lake views make the long lodge approach worth the climb.
EasyChristian Pond Loop3.5 mi · 2 hr · 1.4 mi awayA gentle loop from the lodge through marsh, willows, and sagebrush.
EasyWillow Flats Trail4.4 mi · 2 hr · 1.5 mi awayEasy old-road walking through willows with the Tetons ahead.
EasyLunch Tree Hill Trail0.5 mi · 30 min · 1.7 mi awayA quick climb for Willow Flats and a wide Teton view.
ModerateEmma Matilda Lake Loop10.7 mi · 6 hr · 2.5 mi awayLake views and wildflowers reward this long, marshy circuit.
ModerateTwo Ocean Lake Trail6.4 mi · 4 hr · 2.5 mi awayA 6.4-mile lake loop with Teton views and marshy stretches.ChallengingTwo Ocean Lake - Emma Matilda Lake Loop13.2 mi · 8 hr · 2.5 mi awayA two-lake loop with a high view over both lakes.
Sight · 1 mi awayOxbow Bend TurnoutThe Snake River bend frames Mount Moran and the Teton Range.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayChristian PondA pond loop through willow marsh to Teton views.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayJackson Lake Lodge CorralThe longer ride reaches Emma Matilda Lake and Teton views.
1.5 mi awayGrand Teton Medical ClinicUrgent care for park visitors near Jackson Lake Lodge.
Sight · 1.6 mi awayUpper Willow Flats OverlookA quick stop for willow flats, wildlife, and the Teton skyline.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayLower Willow Flats OverlookScan willow flats for wildlife beneath the Tetons' abrupt skyline.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayJackson Lake LodgeA 60-foot window wall turns Willow Flats into the main event.
Restaurant · 1.7 mi awayPioneer GrillA 1950s-style diner for burgers and huckleberry shakes.Parkwolf’s Grand Teton ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
