In April of 2020, zero people visited the most photographed mountains in the world — the Tetons — due to COVID-19. In the last 10 years, visitations to the Teton mountain range have been at a record high. As our world becomes digital, people crave the promise of peace a drive past the mountains can give. But, this comes at a cost.
The pandemic, as a whole, impacted the health of Earth positively and negatively. In 2020, air and water quality improved, greenhouse gasses dropped and noise pollution decreased, specifically in tourist destinations, according to a study from the National Library of Medicine. However, medical, plastic and hazardous waste increased to cope with the demands of hospitals.
So, what about the Tetons? Was this little corner of Wyoming impacted by the pandemic too?
Yes, immensely.
In a study done in 2021, only 5% of those who visit the Tetons were from the Jackson, Wyoming area and 91% of vehicles stop at least once in the park. That means from May through September, traffic is inherent.
Melisa Bigelow, a Jackson resident, watched how this global change and influx of vehicles affected her community.
“Since I’ve lived here, we totally have more visitors coming to Jackson,” Bigelow said. “When COVID hit, that was the year that National Parks just went bonkers because no one flew anywhere and everyone was driving to outdoor places. It was just an insane amount of visitors here, so there is an interesting vibe from locals that live here that are like, ‘I won’t even go in the park anymore because there’s too many people.’”
Since 2015, over three million visitors come to enjoy the beauty of Grand Teton National Park each year, and nearly four million people came in 2021. The most popular month to visit the towering mountains is July and August, as many excursions are closed in the winter months.
The traffic has hurt some of the most beautiful places in the park.
“There are all these special hikes that used to be ‘locals only’ that Instagram kind of ruined,” Bigelow said. “There’s one in particular called Delta Lake that only locals knew. There’s not even a really direct trail to it and it’s not on that many maps. I heard that if you were to ask a park ranger how to get to Delta Lake, they would guide you to another one. And then, everyone posted so many pictures about Delta Lake that it went viral, and now it’s just overrun.”
On the other side of the Teton mountain range lives Selena Miskin, a resident of Alta, Wyoming. Alta is a small town of 367 residents that is on the state line between Idaho and Wyoming. It is surrounded by other towns like Driggs and Victor, Idaho, and all three places experience similar trends.
“During the pandemic, people wanted to get away from the density of big cities,” Miskin said. “I think during COVID they just didn’t want to be around people. Teton Valley is clean, it’s fresh and it’s small, so it’s the place to get away. It’s also a big stop for those who want to visit the (Grand Teton National) park.”
Jackson, Wyoming, on the other hand, has a population of 10,728 people and suffers similar problems to Alta and Driggs. But on either side of those jagged mountains, there is one thing that residents can agree on — they love their home.
“I really love the serenity that I feel around the mountains,” Miskin said. “I love living right in its shadow — the Tetons are right outside of my bedroom. It’s honestly the most peaceful place I’ve ever lived in.”
On the other side of the Teton mountain range, Bigelow feels the same.
“I love them so much, I feel like they’re mine,” Bigelow said. “I think for everybody that lives here, you think that mountain range is yours. Every time we leave and when we come back to town, my family and I are just like, ‘Oh, we’re home. This is it. We love it.’”
Both Bigelow and Miskin buy a pass to Grand Teton National Park every year, and they visit in June and September to avoid the crowds.
“Before COVID, we had a ton of international visitors that would come from Salt Lake City in big buses,” Miskin said. “After the pandemic, countries took a long time to open, so since then there’s been a lot fewer international visitors. Now, people come from all over the country. They don’t fly in planes to get here anymore, they drive. Fewer big buses, but we have lots more cars.”
The growing number of cars is one of the biggest issues the park faces. A trend noticed by Grand Teton National Park is that people are “enjoying the park in new ways,” by using more hiking trails, according to the park’s Visitor Use and Experience page. For example, trails in September 2023 were used 4% more than in September 2022.
And the number of people coming to the park is expected to increase. Last year was a relatively “low” year for visitors, with just under three million people. But in September of this year, the park saw a 21% increase in visitors, clocking in at just over three million people.
“Parking is insane, it is overflowing,” Bigelow said. “Being a local, I kind of am aware of when to go and when not to go. You either have to get there earlier, or you get there later in the evening by the time all the tourists have left the park.”
And many locals are even more “anti-growth” in Teton Valley, according to Miskin.
“They don’t want the ski resorts to expand or have them put in new runs or put in condos,” Miskin said. “They don’t want farmers to sell their land. I mean, they just want a cap on housing. They don’t want the valley to change, they don’t want it to grow. Driggs doesn’t want to turn into another Jackson or another Park City (Utah). People move here to get away from cities like that.”
In cities like Jackson or Park City, more people are visiting or moving to the area, and more people means even more change, according to Bigelow.
“Jackson is almost filled up with people, and Driggs is their overflow,” Bigelow said. “If you can’t get to Jackson, they’re going to Driggs is kind of what is happening. It’s hard because I’m kind of one of the people that moved in, right? We were just this family that moved and we work hard in the community — we’re a big part of it. I think the problem is that people are buying second homes, raising the prices, but they don’t live or contribute here.”
Change can be hard to watch, especially for those who work hard to preserve the majesty of the Tetons. For some who stay in the area year-round, they choose to look at the positive that change can bring.
“I think there’s those that are so sad to see their Tetons changing, it’s a bitter pill to swallow,” Bigelow said. “Then there’s those that love the change so much and they just want to make it work.”
Isabelle Justice 