taggart lake

We did this hike on our last morning, there were very few people. On arrival at the lake you are met by an unbelievable view of the Tetons reflected into the lake, you will take multiple photos.Many locals were doing this hike when we returned to the car park.

There are several hiking options from the Taggart Lake Trailhead. The parking area for the trailhead is on the west side of the Grand Teton Park Road, just south of Jenny Lake. The trailhead provides access to both Taggart and Bradley Lakes as well as the longer trail up to Amphitheatre Lake. My wife and I opted to try the loop that provides access to Bradley and Taggart Lakes as well as adding in the Beaver Pond trail. While the trail did have more elevation change than we were expecting, there was nothing very difficult about the trail and we found it to be a very enjoyable hike. The route that we took ended up covering almost 7 miles and took us right at 4 hours to complete.We made our hike on a Tuesday in mid-July. We spent most of the morning checking out some of the vista points in the park (Oxbow Bend and Schwabacher Landing) so we were a little later getting to the trailhead, arriving about 10:00. But even at this time the parking lot was only about two-thirds full. We were on the trail about 10:15.It did not take long for the trail to work its magic and I was quickly absorbed in the variety of scenes along the trail. For our hike, we traveled counterclockwise once we reached the main trail from the connector from the trailhead parking lot. The trail passes by the horse barn and pasture, then starts to climb along Taggart Creek with one crossing via a bridge. About 20 minutes after leaving the parking lot, the trail had leveled out and we were rewarded with very nice views of the Tetons and a few interesting glacial erratics along the trail. It was somewhere in here, I think, that we hit a junction and took the right fork toward Bradley Lake. The hike continued through this open are for a while, still gradually gaining elevation, then entered a more wooded area. The views of the Tetons to the west were now obscured, but there were glimpses looking south, including elevated views over Taggart Lake. We stopped at a couple of viewpoints to enjoy the vista and get some photos. The character of the trail changed again, as it cut down along several switchbacks through a wooded hillside. When the trail bottomed out, we were at Bradley Lake. But the views of the lake from this point are not that good as there is no good opening through the pine trees. But we could see the far end of the lake from here so we opted to continue along the Amphitheater Lake Trail to see what we could see. I reckon it was only about a quarter mile to get to the head of Bradley Lake, and the views from this side were unobstructed and quite lovely; well worth the short, level walk around the edge of the lake. We took a few minutes to enjoy the vistas and watch the butterflies, and then retraced our steps back to our trail.Once back at the far end of Bradley Lake, the trail took an uphill stroke, finally topping out in a hillside of wildflowers and butterflies. Wow, just a lot of variety along this trail. Then we started decreasing elevation down toward Taggart Lake. The trail rolls right along the southern shore of the lake and offers some very nice views across the lake. Up to this point, we had not seen too many folks along the trail, but along the shore of Taggart Lake there were many people hanging out, including some kids swimming. We also had a decision point along the shore of Taggart Lake, as the trail splits here. The original plan was to take the longer route along Beaver Pond Loop and as we were still feeling pretty spry, we stuck with that plan. After crossing the bridge at the lower end of the lake the trail starts to climb up a sort of steep hill. The views from the trial looking back to the lake and off to the south after cresting ridge were spectacular; some of the best vistas along the entire hike. The character of the hike changes significantly on the other side of the ridge and the trial drops in elevation. We found ourselves hiking downhill through meadows that were dotted with a few evergreen trees with a smattering of granite boulders and carpeted in wildflowers. There were also many butterflies flitting about. The views all around were beautiful. As the trail continues to drop down toward the trailhead, the meadows gave way to some tree-lined stretches; mostly aspens I reckon, but still some pine trees as well. The temperature was also starting to rise a bit, still pleasant but definitely warm enough that I was glad that we were coming off the trail instead of starting. Plus there was a chance for afternoon storms, so another reason to be finishing a hike rather than starting one. But as we approached the trailhead we saw a lot of folks starting up the trail. We were back at the trailhead about 2:00, so right at 4 hours to complete this outstanding, seven-mile hike. This was a good first-day hike, perhaps a bit more strenuous than I was planning for as our first full day in the park, but still a great day on the trail.