Grand Teton National Park and Grand Teton National Park Foundation hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony in early July to celebrate a multi-year, multi-million-dollar public-private partnership to renew the park’s most popular destination—Jenny Lake.
The Jenny Lake Renewal Project was officially completed in early July.
Over the years, the area became greatly deteriorated as millions of visitors sought the famous views that define Jenny Lake. The cumulative damage threatened fragile habitat and prevented people with limited abilities from exploring all the area has to offer.
Jenny Lake’s trails, bridges, key destinations, and visitor complex have transformed into a portal for discovery and now allow people with a wider range of abilities to connect with the park in meaningful, memorable ways. National Park Service crews dramatically improved access to iconic destinations such as Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls by building new stone steps, smoothing and leveling trails, and ensuring better drainage for rainwater and snowmelt. Work completed also reduces congestion and ambiguity by creating suggested directional trails, larger boat docks, increased restroom facilities, and designated areas to rest and take in the stunning views.
Inspiration Point received much-needed improvements and now includes multi-tiered viewing platforms.
Most of all, hands-on interpretive elements like bronze 3-D relief maps, new signage, mountain viewing scopes, and a mobile application in its final stages of development blend both traditional and modern platforms to enrich the Jenny Lake experience for visitors of all ages and abilities.
New bronze relief maps are one of the many new interpretive displays at Jenny Lake.
Grand Teton National Park Foundation launched the Inspiring Journeys Campaign for Jenny Lake in 2012 and completed the fundraising effort on August 25, 2016—the National Park Service’s 100th birthday. The Foundation raised $14.5 million and the National Park Service contributed more than $6 million to make the ambitious vision a reality.
By offering an enhanced understanding of the people, place, and preservation efforts that shaped Grand Teton, the Foundation and park hope the outcomes achieved in this project will inspire the next generation of park supporters and stewards for years to come.
Jenny Lake by the Numbers:
· Stone for all trails and masonry construction: 2,550 tons
· Square footage of dry-stacked stone wall: 4,915
· Miles of reconstructed trail: 5.2
· Stone drains: 63
· Cubic feet of stone causeway: 4,474
· Bridges built: 5
· Historic structures rehabilitated: 3
Project Team:
· Grand Teton National Park
· Grand Teton National Park Foundation
· Dry Stone Conservancy
· Hershberger Design
· Harpers Ferry Center for Interpretive Media
· McMillan Jacobs
· Rocky Mountain Bank
· The Sibbett Group
· Southern Custom Exhibits
· NPS Western Center for Historical Preservation
· Zaist Construction Management