Teewinot Overlook

Teewinot Overlook is a small paved lakeshore viewpoint reached from Jenny Lake Plaza. A bronze relief map of the peaks and an interpretive sign make it an easy place to get oriented before deciding whether to take one of the area's longer walks. The park lists wheelchair access.

From the east shore, look across Jenny Lake toward Mount Teewinot, Mount St. John and Cascade Canyon. The Grand Teton itself isn’t visible from this lakeshore, so treat this as a lake-level view rather than a stop for the park’s famous profile. For a photo, put the raised map low in the frame with the lake and peaks behind it; that gives the view scale and context.

Jenny Lake fills depressions cut by Ice Age glaciers, which also left terminal moraines across the valley floor. The lake reaches 256 feet at its deepest. The Teton Range’s steep front reflects movement on the active Teton fault: the mountains rose while Jackson Hole dropped.

“Teewinot” is a Shoshone word for “many pinnacles.” Jenny Lake was named for Jenny Leigh, a Shoshone woman who assisted the 1872 Hayden Expedition with her husband, Richard “Beaver Dick” Leigh.

A paved path leads here from Jenny Lake Plaza. The nearby store, visitor center and restrooms belong to the broader plaza area, not the overlook itself; the store has snacks and drinks. In summer, the Jenny Lake parking lot fills. If you need to use overflow parking, pull fully off the road shoulder. For a longer outing, trails from the same area reach Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point or continue around the lake.