Snake River Overlook

Snake River Overlook is a roadside viewpoint above the Snake River, open sagebrush flats and Teton Range. It is the approximate setting of Ansel Adams's 1942 photograph and an iconic mountain-and-river panorama. Keep it in for a brief scenic stop; the modern view is striking, even though it no longer matches the old photograph.

The pullout is directly off US 89/191/26, with a short walk to the viewing area and its stone wall. The viewpoint is wheelchair accessible, and interpretive markers add context to the landscape. This is a quick pause, not a hike.

The Snake winds through forest and sagebrush below the peaks. Trees now hide part of the river's old curves, so the famous composition is harder to reproduce. Look through the openings in the foreground trees for the river bend. Early morning can give a clearer mountain view; haze and clouds may flatten or hide the peaks.

Adams made his black-and-white photograph in 1942 from roughly this vantage, but the exact camera position is unknown. The river's visible curves have changed as trees grew, so treat the famous image as a reference, not a promise of the same frame. The overlook is still a rewarding place to take in the relationship between the broad valley and the steep mountain front.

The Snake begins in the Teton Wilderness outside Yellowstone, briefly flows through Yellowstone, then runs through Grand Teton and Idaho before reaching the Columbia River in Washington. Older names recorded for it include Lewis River, Mad River and Sho-sho-ne-pah, as well as the French fur-trappers' La Maudite Riviere Enragee, translated as "the Accursed Mad River."

The open basin below is a deep glacial outwash plain, built from sediment carried away from the mountains by meltwater. Nearby Jackson, Jenny and Phelps lakes were dammed by terminal moraines left by glaciers. That broad floor makes the sudden rise of the Tetons especially clear from this viewpoint.