Moran is the northern gateway to Grand Teton National Park. There are several ways to plan your visit: wildlife viewing, hikes with clearly defined trail profiles, and a structure dating back to the settlement era. If you’re looking for accommodation in Moran, you can start by considering which of these interests you’d like to focus on during your trip.
River Scenery and Wildlife Viewing
Oxbow Bend is a quiet stretch of the Snake River, formed over time by natural forces. It’s a popular spot for watching the sunrise or sunset, and photographers come for the river and the Teton Range. Wildlife is also among the sights to look out for: at Oxbow Bend, you can spot pelicans, great blue herons, muskrats, otters, elk and bears, among other animals.
Another view of the landscape awaits at Elk Ranch Flats, just south of Moran. From there, you can see the Teton Range; depending on the season, wildlife is often visible in the foreground. This seasonal variation is a distinct point to consider when planning your trip and cannot be narrowed down to a fixed timeframe.
Fishing on the Snake River is also possible in Moran. Access to the river is available, among other places, via Pacific Creek Landing and Jackson Lake Dam Landing.
Compare Hikes by Distance and Difficulty
The Two Ocean Lake Trail is a moderate 6.4-mile loop with 700 feet of elevation gain. The Emma Matilda Lake Trail is 10.7 miles long, with 1,430 feet of elevation gain; this loop is rated moderate to strenuous. The distance, elevation gain and difficulty ratings make it easy to compare the two individual hikes.
Another option is the Two Ocean Lake–Emma Matilda Lake Loop, a strenuous 13.2-mile loop. Compared with the two trails described individually, its greater distance and strenuous rating are the main points to note. Which of these factors matters most to you depends on whether you pay more attention to distance, elevation gain or difficulty.
The Two Ocean Lake area also has a seasonal landscape feature: wildflowers bloom there in early to mid-summer, and the surroundings are wet and marshy. This is a different planning consideration from the trail distances. When choosing when to travel, you can take the flowering season and the landscape conditions into account alongside the profiles of the individual hikes.
A Structure from the Settlement Era
Cunningham Cabin was built in 1888 in the Appalachian style, also known as “double-pen” or “dog-trot.” The cabin is one of the few surviving structures in the valley from the era when homesteaders settled there. It offers a different way to connect with the area than its river scenery, wildlife viewing or hiking: here, the focus is on a surviving structure and its historical context.
These different topics address different questions for planning your trip. At Oxbow Bend, the focus is on river scenery, photography and wildlife viewing; for the hikes, distance, elevation gain and difficulty help you compare your options. Elk Ranch Flats adds an explicitly seasonal wildlife viewing opportunity south of Moran, while Cunningham Cabin offers a historical point of interest. This lets you choose what to focus on without treating the individual places and activities as interchangeable.
Discover more destinations: Jackson, Alta, Wilson, Teton Village
Return to the main travel overview: Teton.
