Just a little more than one mile from the road lies a breathtaking glacial lake at the foot of the towering Teton range. What makes this place special—and unique—is that the roughly three-mile round trip excursion is the perfect length for families, groups of all ages and abilities, and visitors who only have a half day to explore the park.

For the more experienced recreationists, this is a year-round gateway to discover the vast backcountry. Taggart Lake Trailhead is Grand Teton National Park’s most-frequented, year-round destination and a place for all visitors to experience first-hand the grandeur of this incredible national park.

Taggart Lake Trailhead is many visitors’ first stop north of the Moose entrance station on the Teton Park Road. The beauty and popularity of the area, along with a significant increase in park visitation in the past ten years, has overwhelmed the Taggart Lake Trailhead. The sixty-two car parking lot is commonly beyond capacity, forcing people to park along the roadside leading to and from the trailhead. Arriving visitors experience surprise and disappointment at the diminished aesthetics of a line of cars and event-style port-a-johns. Eighty-seven percent of visitors surveyed said they experienced some level of crowding and had concerns about safety. It is clear that current trailhead facilities are not meeting demand or visitor needs. Once away from the cars, crowds disperse and it’s not as congested as conditions at the trailhead suggest. However, measurable impacts exist in the form of deteriorating trail sections, user created paths, and denuded areas along Taggart and Bradley lakes’ shorelines.