![]() ![]() Dip your feet in if you like.Ĭontinue up the trail towards Paintbrush Divide. This is a short detour but ends up linking up with the main trail. Higher up in the canyon look for a sign for Holly Lake. Keep watch for moose, bears, and lots of marmots. In the early summer, wildflowers are beautiful. From here the trail winds and rolls over a nicely maintained trail, slowly climbing higher and higher. You'll come to a sign for Paintbrush Canyon. Cross the bridge at the junction of Leigh and String Lakes. Park at the String Lake Parking Area and follow signs towards Leigh Lake/Paintbrush Canyon. You may need to bring an ice ax or hiking poles for support. Check with a ranger at the closest visitor center to make sure it is passable on foot. Warnings: Snow can sometimes cover the top of Paintbrush Divide.This hike can be completed as a full day hike or multi-day backpack (campsites are available in upper Paintbrush Canyon and Cascade Canyon – permits required). The views are spectacular the entire way through. Two high alpine lakes welcome a quick soaking of the feet or a full dip for the cold blooded. While Cascade Canyon is swarming with hikers, especially below the forks, Paintbrush Canyon offers a remote wilderness setting. ![]() After cutting off that hellacious segment, however, we enjoyed a much more peaceful hike as we finished the last couple miles along Jenny Lake’s northwest shore.If you don't have time for a multi-day backpacking trip in the Tetons, but still want to see the best of the backcountry, try a full day hike up Paintbrush Canyon, over the Paintbrush Divide, and back down Cascade Canyon. While it was probably only about a mile where the trail got painfully busy, it felt like an eternity. Needless to say, we opted to take a fork to the left and return directly to String Lake without visiting the overcrowded hotspots. Many visitors take the 12-minute boat shuttle across Jenny Lake to make the easy, two-mile round-trip walk to the falls and overlook. The two landmarks – a viewpoint overlooking Jenny Lake and a 100-foot cascade – are two of the most popular spots in the Tetons. That last short portion of trail along Cascade Creek is home to Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls. I was not at all comfortable with the throngs on people on that last section of trail, and we hastened our already quick pace just to get away from everyone. So much so, that for the first time in four months of hiking, we were forced to put on our masks. Unexpectedly, after a really beautiful, tranquil hike, the approach to Jenny Lake became appalling crowded. While we chose to continue up Paintbrush Canyon, a quick detour past the lakeshore wouldn’t have added any extra mileage to the route (as noted on trail map). Around 5.5 miles from the trailhead, the trail split with an optional detour leading to the shore of Holly Lake. The forest quickly thinned as the trail climbed more steeply through the canyon, gaining 3,200 vertical feet over the next 4.5 miles. Hiking this direction allowed us to ascend the steeper section of trail first, and to enjoy continuous views of Grand Teton and the Cathedral Group as we descended through Cascade Canyon on the return.įor the first 3.5 miles, the trail climbed gently through the forests along the shore of String Lake to Paintbrush Canyon, offering a quick glimpse of Leigh Lake. ![]() The trail can be hiked in either direction, and we ultimately opted to hike counterclockwise. Parking is fairly limited, so we’d recommend getting there early to secure a spot. The trail to Paintbrush Divide begins at the String Lake Trailhead, just north of Jenny Lake.
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