Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park, established in 1929 in northwestern Wyoming, protects the dramatic Teton Range and the valley of Jackson Hole at its foot. The park is defined by the way the mountains erupt straight from the flat valley floor without foothills — the Grand Teton itself rising to 13,775 feet — mirrored in a string of glacial lakes along the range's base. It lies just south of Yellowstone, the two linked by a protected parkway.

Below the peaks, the Snake River winds through sagebrush flats and cottonwood groves rich with wildlife — moose, elk, bison, bears, and pronghorn. The combination of soaring mountains and broad open valley makes for some of the most photographed scenery in the country, and draws more than three and a half million visitors a year to hike, climb, and float the river.

• Yellowstone National Park
  The world's first national park, atop a supervolcano adjoins
• Wyoming
  The least populous state, high plains and the Rockies located in
• The Teton Range
  A dramatic, young range rising sheer from the valley protects