Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center

This is an essential stop when in the vicinity of Jackson and the Grand Tetons. This is the place to get the lowdown on the Who, What and Where before you return to your car and experience your Grand Teton Adventure. There was a pretty interesting, artsy gift shop as well, if only they had been open! The huge visitor’s center is pretty new, with nice displays, dioramas, films, and some thoughtfully placed benches to sit and marvel at the sight outside. It is completely glassed in on the western side, so you can view those statuesque mountain spires without enduring the fickle weather changes. And don’t forget to get your picture taken with the moose outside. He is the only one I dare recommend getting close to.

Stopped by on my way to the park. I was a little disappointed to discover that the cost to drive up to Jenny Lake was going to be $ 30.00. I had wanted to take my kids to see the lake and ride the boat across the lake. The folks working here are very automated in what they say. They tried to up sale me on a entrance fee to Yellowstone even though I wasn’t going there. Sorta felt like I was dealing with a used car salesman.
I was just passing through on my way to Idaho. The 1 hour circle around Jackson is a area I soon discovered which is very over priced for everything and the fishing is terrible because the rivers are overrated and over fished.
Guides wanted $ 575 just to take two of you fishing. No half day… just pay up buddy because there is a line behind you.
Which brings me back to The Grand Teton National Park. We simply turned around and moved on. The people working there could learn a few things about kindness & customer service. I’m disappointed that I have waited my whole life to come here and now it is too expensive for a retired guy like myself. Ask about the Senior Citizens Pass but not old enough for that yet by a few weeks.
Overall I like the area but no way I can come here and enjoy it.

If, as a ranger at Montana’s Little Big Horn National Historic Site told us, the National Park Service is running on fumes then the Craig Thomas Visitor Center at the Moose Entry to Grand Teton National Park has a full tank of high test fuel! This stunning for architecture, view siting, displays and orientation film may be the most impressive of all visitor centers we’ve experienced at many National Parks. Be certain to stop here and even plan to spend an hour or more. We almost passed this by in eagerness to get into the Park and that would have been our loss.
STUNNING ARCHITECTURE, VIEWS, DISPLAYS
The outlook alone here, from the inside windows of this 22,000 square foot facility or from the path at the back of the uniquely designed building is worth the stop as you get the sense of how unique are the Tetons given they, unlike most mountain ranges, seem to rise straight out of the ground given absence of foot hills. You’ll also enjoy displays that describe the land and people that pioneered it and which include a large relief model of the entire National Park. Some of those displays are even embedded as digital images in the floor. There are also beautiful sculptures in and out as well as a large gift store with all sorts of mementos from books to clothing to games to DVDs. We didn’t do more than peek in there, but it seemed to have something for people of all ages in the gift store just as there is in the displays.
EXCELLENT HD MOVIE
Be certain to take the time to see the HD, Discovery Channel produced, 24 minute movie about the Grand Teton National Park. If is awe inspiring, not only for the magnificence of the land but for how so many people before us helped preserve the land and make the Park possible for us to enjoy today. Some of these people by willingness to brave the fierce elements to create the infrastructure of roads and dwellings to make the land inhabitable year around. Some of these people in spite having do the proverbial shoveling of sand against the tide of Washington DC based politics that tried to stand in the way of the expansion of the Park to what it is today. As example, we owe a debt to Laurence Rockefeller as one of those individuals who invested not only years of his time but millions of dollars of his money to overcome the hurdles and have the land protected from development and incorporated into the Park
Then the best part of all, at the end of the movie in the silence among the audience was so complete in appreciation of what we had just watched that you could hear a pin drip in that theater, the big curtains opened immediately as the screen was raised to reveal a stunning view of the Tetons. Awe inspiring for their majesty.
PUBLIC SECTOR — PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIP
Maybe it is because this visitor center is funded through government National Park funds of $ 8M and another $ 13.5 million in private sector gifts that it is so extraordinary. That public — private buy in has made this visitor center remarkable. The names of some of the philanthropists who helped to make this happen are listed on a plaque. In a time when it is popular to throw darts at people with wealth, it is also worth remembering how philanthropic generosity from those folks makes things like this visitor center possible for all of we were mortals.
THIS N THAT:
1) ACCESSIBILITY: This is a stellar example of seamlessly incorporated universally accessible design for people of all physical abilities and ages. (Think people pushing strollers, or using wheelchairs or crutches.)
2) TRAIL PASSES: Available here for those trails where they are required.
3) CROWDS: To avoid them, the hour or so after morning opening is best.
4) HOURS & ENTRY: This is located off Teton Park Road as you drive toward the Parks entrance at Moose. If you get to the Moose Entry at the Park, you’ve gone too far so turn around and look for the sign into the visitor center. No entry fee into the visitor center. Hours are roughly this, seven days a week: June thru Aug 8a — 7a, Sept & Oct 8a — 5p, Nov to June 9a — 5p.

If you’re in Grand Teton or heading to Yellowstone be sure and stop here! Great exhibits and bookstore. Activities for kids and adults. Be sure and register for the snowshoe hike in the winter, at $ 5 it’s the best deal in Jackson!

We parked our car, walked along the path to the visitor center, passed the courtyard and finally came to this brand new visitor center.
It extraordinarily blended a contemporary architecture (glass and concrete) with the beautiful nature (sky and mountain).
The greatest part about the building was the soaring roof, with a high glass curtain wall that we could look directly to the fantastic Teton Range. While I was learning the history of the place, I wouldn’t miss the beautiful nature outside.
Modern design techniques and technologies were extensively employed. But they didn’t compete but actually brought out the best part of the landscape.