Parking
Start at Taggart Lake Trailhead on Teton Park Road, about 2.3 miles north of the Moose Entrance Station. The lot often fills in summer, so arrive early. If roadside parking is open, follow the signs and pull fully off the main road.
Overview
About Taggart Lake - Beaver Creek Loop
Why go
- Taggart Lake and Teton views with a complete loop back to the trailhead.
- Aspen, a creek cascade, moraine views and a quieter-feeling southern return.
Heads up
- A steady uphill approach, then a short steep moraine climb after the lake.
- The popular trailhead lot often fills in summer.
Taggart Lake - Beaver Creek Loop is a 3.8-mile circuit from Taggart Lake Trailhead: climb through aspen and conifers to the lake, then return south by Valley Trail and Beaver Creek. Give it two to three hours. It’s a good pick if you want the lake and a proper loop without turning the day into a long backcountry outing. The 620 feet of climbing are spread across the route, but the walk is not flat: roots, rocks, stairs and one short, steeper moraine pitch slow things down.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this one for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Grand Teton map
Full mapElevation6,627–6,998 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Grand Teton alerts
- ClosureConstruction closures and delaysMentions this trailConstruction 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
- ClosureJackson Lake boat ramps closed; Signal launch riskColter 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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Grand Teton Tour Guide
Your drive to Taggart Lake - Beaver Creek Loop, 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
Taggart Lake: A Two-Hour Mountain Walk0:00 / 0:25
“You're approaching Taggart Lake Trailhead, a good choice for a mountain lake without an all-day hike.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Grand Teton Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Cottonwood Creek: Lunch beside the Pack Meadow
- Windy Point: Peaks and Elk Calls
- Teton Glacier Turnout: Ice Above the Valley
- Lucas-Fabian Homestead: Geraldine’s Grand Teton Climb
- 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 Taggart Lake - Beaver Creek Loop
Follow the Taggart Lake branchStart on the signed path from the trailhead and stay on the footpath where an old gravel road…
Start on the signed path from the trailhead and stay on the footpath where an old gravel road branches away. A bridge over Taggart Creek gives you a quick look at a small cascade. Around four-tenths of a mile in, you pass the horse corrals and begin the steady climb through spruce, fir, lodgepole pine and aspen. At the Bradley Lake junction, keep to the Taggart Lake branch; the other fork adds Bradley Lake and makes a different, longer hike.
The 1985 burnAround the first mile, the trail crosses the area burned by the 1985 Beaver Creek Fire.
Around the first mile, the trail crosses the area burned by the 1985 Beaver Creek Fire. The change from shady forest to more open ground gives you wider views toward the Tetons. The aspen stands are especially colorful in fall, though the route is worth doing outside that season too.
At Taggart LakeThe path levels out before reaching the lake’s southeastern shore, about 1.
The path levels out before reaching the lake’s southeastern shore, about 1.6 miles from the start. This is the main payoff: clear water below the Teton skyline, with Middle Teton, Grand Teton, Mount Owen and Teewinot in view. If the water is still, the peaks can reflect in the lake; the shore makes a natural foreground. Take a few minutes here before starting the longer return.
The moraine and the way backFrom the shore, follow the Valley Trail south.
From the shore, follow the Valley Trail south. It crosses a narrow outlet and climbs a short, fairly steep glacial moraine; from the top, look south across Jackson Hole. Around 2.4 miles into the walk, take the Beaver Creek route back. It passes open meadows, old pine forest and willow-lined stretches beside the creek before bending east toward the trailhead. The loop rejoins its short approach near the end.
If you want a shorter walkThe direct Taggart Lake out-and-back reaches the same lake and skips most of the southern loop.
The direct Taggart Lake out-and-back reaches the same lake and skips most of the southern loop. Choose that if you want the view but would rather avoid the extra miles and moraine climb. For this row’s full experience, stay on the Valley Trail and complete the Beaver Creek return.
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.
