Jackson Lake Lodge

We stayed at the Jackson Lake Lodge, which was a 40 minute drive from the airport. We stayed in an ADA cabin off the lodge. It was one room with two beds, a mini fridge, table and chairs and a bathroom. The cabin only had a few wall outlets so I was very happy I brought my USB charger on Amazon it got plenty of use between all of us.

Our cabin was extremely hot. We tried switching cabins, but my wheelchair wouldn’t even fit between the doorframe, so we kept the cabin door open to combat the heat. The bathroom was great. It had a roll in shower with a folding seat on the wall!!

Later, we drove into Jackson Hole to a grocery store and bought ingredients for our breakfast in the morning.

Me and my mom wanted to be adventurous, so we went for a walk down a narrow dirt path, between the mountains and the hotel. Since the trail wasn’t accessible, pushing me down the dirt road became difficult, so my mom walked ahead to see if she could find a spot to turn me around. She left me by the pile of fresh bear poop, thanks mom. As I sat in the hot sun, the silence was creepy and I kind of felt like a sitting duck since I was sitting directly next to bear scat, hopefully they don’t eat duck! On our first day there, I wasn’t ready to meet smoky the bear so soon. While I waited, I turned on some Billy Joel, because maybe the bear likes Uptown Girl.

Restaurants

There were three restaurants at the lodge. One was a 50s diner called,. They mostly had high counters, but thankfully they had two seats that were lower for wheelchairs. If those were occupied, you had the option of sitting in the lobby or even outside on the patio, the waiters and waitresses were very accommodating. You could also order food to go, which came in handy later for our picnic.

There was a The Mural Room – an overpriced restaurant that was reservations only. We ate there one night and the food was ok. It didn’t stand out and it definitely was not worth the price, but their side of grilled broccolini was out of this world!

Option number three was the Blue Heron Lounge. Again, it was just ok. It was less formal than The Mural Room, but they didn’t have a lot of menu options. It was healthier than the diner food. For some reason, I kept ordering the trout chowder, even though it had a burnt after taste.

They also had the Coffee Cart. We sat in the area right outside of the restaurant. They had huge windows that overlooked the Tetons with four shops and two gift shops. One of the gift shops was located on the main floor and was right outside huckleberry cart. The first shop sold clothes and the other had everything from jams, chocolate to lip balm, lotion and even huckleberry salad dressing. They had another pricey clothing shop and then another store that sold everything from decorations, art, jewelry, toys, snacks and booze!

Pool

We went to the pool on the hottest day. Yes, they had a chair lift, but only employee who knew how to, “work it”, wasn’t in that day. Shocking? No. Unfortunately, it happens all the time! These lifts are simple to operate and would take less than a half hour to properly train an employee. It is frustrating when you’re paying for hotel amenities that you can’t use. I literally had to sweat this one out.

Mormon row

I didn’t really know Mormon Row was, I just knew it was a well photographed area. We drove down the gravel road to Mormon Row, which was a barn that used to be surrounded by a Mormon community with the Tetons as the backdrop. On a good day, you’ll get a good picture. I took photos that show how it wasn’t wheelchair friendly. What I thought was stellar was the ADA outhouse! I did not use it, but I had never seen one before.

Snake River

We booked rafting the Snake River through the hotel. The hotel shuttle was not accessible, so we followed it twenty minutes from the hotel to the launch point at Snake River in our minivan. Two of the Snake River guides helped me into the raft. My sister and I sat on the floor of the raft with our backs leaning against the side. Our guide was amazing! He spoke about the land, the Tetons and wildlife. At the end of our Snake River adventure, the guide lifted me by my lifejacket up and over the raft and into my chair like I weighed nothing. I highly recommend the rafting ride down the Snake River.

Jenny Lake

The Jenny Lake had a paved trail that goes halfway around the lake. One way leads to a boating dock where you can buy tickets for a ride across the lake. The opposite direction leads to a beach where people were swimming and sunning themselves. No dogs were allowed in the water.

Signal Mountain

We drove up to the top of Signal Mountain. To be expected, the climb to the top was steep, but once we made it to the top, it was pitched and paved. The summit had incredible views of the mountains, flat plains, the Snake River, Jackson Hole Valley and rolling land that went as far as your eyes could see.