Parking
Use the south end of the Colter Bay Marina parking lot by the boat launch; Hermitage Point Trailhead is there.
Overview
About Heron Pond Trail
Why go
- A lily-pad pond with a Teton backdrop
- Mostly level walking
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Grand Teton map
Full mapElevation6,765–6,896 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Grand Teton alerts
- ClosureJackson Lake boat ramps closed; Signal launch riskMentions Jackson Lake, referenced in this guideColter Bay and Leeks boat ramps are closed; Signal Mountain Boat Ramp is open, but water is below the ramp edge and loose cobbles make launching risky.Official details
- ClosureConstruction closures and delaysConstruction is causing current road and area closures and delays across Grand Teton; use the signed Taggart Trail detour. - Moose-Wilson Road is closed between Moose and Laurance S.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Grand Teton Tour Guide
Your drive to Heron Pond Trail, narrated.
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 trailhead
Colter Bay: Lake Views, Artists and Lunch0:00 / 0:32
“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 this trailhead in the Parkwolf Grand Teton Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Colter Bay: Picnic Tables and a Pebbly Beach
- Fishing in Formation
- A Stone Tool’s Chemical Fingerprint
- Whiskers Beneath the Surface
- 118 audio storiesacross Grand Teton’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Brown Bear, Gray Wolf, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 70 trails, 121 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“…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.”
Trail guide
Hiking Heron Pond Trail
A mellow walk to a pondHeron Pond Trail is a mostly level 2.
Heron Pond Trail is a mostly level 2.9-mile out-and-back from the south end of Colter Bay Marina, with about 150 feet of gain. Allow around an hour and a half, plus time at the water. It is a good easy choice for a forest walk with a pond-and-mountain payoff. At the Swan Lake Trail junction, continue straight; skip the horse-use spur to the right for the shorter route.
Through the pinesThe first stretch follows a dirt road beside the marina, where lodgepole pines filter the water…
The first stretch follows a dirt road beside the marina, where lodgepole pines filter the water views. Farther out, the view opens toward Colter Bay and Jackson Lake before the trail settles into forest. The route then follows the east side of Heron Pond to its viewing spot. There are no pets allowed on this trail.
The pond and the turn-aroundLily pads cover the pond, where waterfowl gather.
Lily pads cover the pond, where waterfowl gather. From the viewpoint, look across the water toward parts of Half Moon Bay, Jackson Lake and the Tetons. Turn around here for the short hike; continuing to Swan Lake makes a separate 3.1-mile loop. For a photo, put the lily pads in the foreground with the mountain reflection behind them.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Grand Teton
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.
