Restaurant · Grand Teton National Park
A seasonal Colter Bay meal with a little ranching history.
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 place
Colter Bay: Lake Views, Artists and Lunch“Colter Bay's waterfront is ahead, with an easy lake view from the visitor center's deck. Start there to look across Jackson Lake toward Mount Moran.”
Plays as you drive up to Ranch House at Colter Bay 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
The Ranch House is a sit-down restaurant in Colter Bay Village, one of Grand Teton’s in-park meal stops. It serves barbecue and rustic comfort food in a casual room with booths and a large bar.
It operates seasonally and takes walk-ins only, with no reservations. Check the current Colter Bay dining schedule before you build a meal around it. Reports on dinner waits vary, so leave yourself a little slack if you have a timed activity afterward.
The restaurant leans on barbecue and comfort food, with regional beef, seafood and produce. Its menu page has described breakfast buffet items such as fresh fruit and biscuits and gravy, plus pancakes and breakfast burritos; dinner examples include brisket and rotisserie chicken. Visitors also mention burgers, trout and chili, though feedback on food and service is mixed. Treat the specific dishes as leads, not promises, and come for a convenient sit-down meal rather than a guaranteed standout.
Look around while you wait: historical park photographs decorate the room, and the bar top carries burned-in brands from area ranches where Colter Bay Village cabins were originally built. It’s a small detail that ties a meal stop to the region’s homesteading and ranching past.
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
EasyHeron Pond-Swan Lake Loop Trail3.1 mi · 1.8 hr · 0.1 mi awayAn easy loop linking two ponds beneath the Tetons.
ModerateHermitage Point Trail9.5 mi · 5.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA boulder shore opens onto Jackson Lake and the Tetons.
EasyColter Bay Lakeshore Trail2.2 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayTwo shoreline loops trade forest walking for big Teton views.
EasyHeron Pond Trail2.9 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayLily pads frame a quiet pond beneath the Teton skyline.
EasySwan Lake Trail1.9 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.5 mi awayA short lake walk through meadow and pines to lily-pad shallows.
EasyLunch Tree Hill Trail0.5 mi · 30 min · 3.6 mi awayA quick climb for Willow Flats and a wide Teton view.
EasyWillow Flats Trail4.4 mi · 2 hr · 3.8 mi awayEasy old-road walking through willows with the Tetons ahead.
ModerateGrand View Point Trail5.8 mi · 3.5 hr · 3.8 mi awayThree lake views make the long lodge approach worth the climb.
Visitor center · 0.1 mi awayColter Bay Visitor CenterA compact ranger stop with Indigenous art and a lakefront deck.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayColter Bay Marina & Boat LaunchRent a boat or launch yours beneath the Tetons
Store · 0.1 mi awayColter Bay General Store & LaunderetteA practical resupply stop with ready-to-eat food, showers and laundry.
Lodging · 0.2 mi awayColter Bay CabinsA historic log-cabin base near Jackson Lake.
Campground · 0.2 mi awayColter Bay RV ParkFull hookups in the pines, with Jackson Lake a short stroll away.
Campground · 0.3 mi awayColter Bay CampgroundA wooded base a short walk from Jackson Lake.
Campground · 0.4 mi awayColter Bay Tent VillageBunks, canvas walls and a wood stove among the pines.
Sight · 0.5 mi awayColter Bay CorralA guided ride brings the Tetons into view from horseback.Parkwolf’s Grand Teton ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
