String Lake to Hidden Falls & Inspiration Point Hike – Grand Teton National Park

Ahhh – Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point – arguably the most popular hike in Grand Teton National Park. The hike itself is short and fairly easy, and when most park visitors do this hike, they take a boat ride across Jenny Lake. However, instead of taking the Jenny Lake boat shuttle and fighting the long lines and crowds, you can take a longer hike to the same viewpoints, starting at String Lake. That’s what we did and I’ll tell you exactly what to expect on your hike to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point via String Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Let’s get started!

First, why did we skip the boat shuttle at Jenny Lake?

A few reasons – first, the Jenny Lake area is an absolute madhouse – arrive anytime after 9am and you will not get a parking spot. On this trip to Grand Teton National Park, the area was suffering from major smoke from nearby wildfires. The day before we did this hike, the smoke was so bad, you could hardly see the Tetons!

We had slept in until 8am (this is sleeping in for us on a hiking vacation!) as we expected to wake up to smokey conditions. When we went to bed, we pretty much scrapped our plans to hike the next day due to the smoke. However, we woke up to bluebird skies! (That’s how it works sometimes!) So we decided to do a hike anyway, but a shorter one than we originally planned – so Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point via String Lake is what we chose. To make a long story short, we woke up too late to get a parking spot in the Jenny Lake area.

Also, the boat shuttle would’ve been $36 for both of us (round trip) and yeah, that’s not going to break the bank, but I’d rather have the extra exercise. We had the whole day free – so why not do the extra mileage from String Lake?

And frankly, I just didn’t feel the need to fight the crowds and lines to get on a boat.

Trailhead Location & Parking for String Lake to Inspiration Point

You’ll want to start your hike at the String Lake trailhead. From Teton Park Road, take the one-way turn-off to Jenny Lake Road. Once you come to the first junction, take a right on String Lake Road. You’ll find three sets of parking lots in this area. The trailhead for String Lake is at the first parking lot. We parked in the second lot but no worries – there’s a trail along the lakeshore that takes you directly to the String Lake trailhead.

Hiking to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point:

String Lake itself is stunning, especially in the morning when the water is calm and you can see the reflections of the Tetons! I spent way more time than I anticipated taking photos of String Lake – I guess I didn’t know how beautiful it was!

After the trailhead sign, you’ll walk a short ways and cross a footbridge. From here, you’ll cross over and start hiking along the shore of Jenny Lake.

This will be the longest section of the hike, at about 1.5 miles, but it’s nearly all flat and absolutely beautiful – you’ll get great views of the Tetons, with colorful wildflowers everywhere, all while you hike around Jenny Lake. I couldn’t stop taking photos!

Throughout this whole hike so far, we pretty much had the trail to ourselves, despite it being mid-morning on a beautiful day. But that all changes as soon as you get to the boat shuttle dock!

Once you get to the boat shuttle area, the crowds arrive in droves. And I do mean droves. This is an extremely, EXTREMELY popular hike. This is where the shitshow begins. This is probably the most crowded hike I have ever been on, almost to the point where it felt unsafe. Many people were doing this hike ill-prepared. Most did not have bear spray, we saw lots of people hiking in flip flops (this is not a flip flop hike!), and worst of all, I kid you not – I saw a lady hiking in high heels, carrying a Gucci bag. Dear god.

After you pass the boat dock (and hopefully you are lucky so that you don’t arrive when the boat unloads the throngs!), the trail gets more rocky and you start going uphill. You have a 1/2 mile now until you reach Hidden Falls.

Once you reach Hidden Falls, expect a ton of people. People absolutely everywhere. Luckily, the waterfall isn’t close enough to the trail where people can play in it, so you can get people-free shots of Hidden Falls. It’s just taking the photo that’s a challenge. You’ll have to pack your patience here. I only snapped a few photos here – the crowds were just too insane.

After Hidden Falls, it’s time for Inspiration Point – another 1/2 mile hike up, with 500 additional feet of elevation gain. This is where the trail gets more challenging and becomes more of a workout. It’s all uphill from here, up steep switchbacks, and the trail is very rocky. Although I saw people of all ages on the trail, I witnessed a few meltdowns by scared children (the trail is exposed most of the way up).

At Inspiration Point, there is a very large, wide ledge where you can take in a birds-eye view of Jenny Lake. While this viewpoint was nice, I wasn’t incredibly impressed or, dare-I-say, inspirired by it. It’s an overlook of the lake and from this angle, you are facing east, so you don’t see the Tetons. It’s still a nice spot to sit and take in the view, watch the boat shuttles make their way across Jenny Lake, and just relax for a bit.

Once you’ve had enough, just retrace your steps back to the car.

Once you’re at Inspiration Point, you can continue your hike into Cascade Canyon and eventually on to Lake Solitute. I’ve done this hike too – it’s 17 miles long. Read about my experience here!

String Lake to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point – Final Thoughts

Pros:

• String Lake is beautiful
• The hike before you get to the boat launch is peaceful, serene with beautiful views. Better than the views at Inspiration Point
• Hidden Falls is a beautiful waterfall

Cons:

• Crowds were nearly unbearable once you hit the chaos of the boat shuttle area, all the way up to Inspiration Point.
• Couldn’t enjoy Hidden Falls at all due to the sheer amount of people there. I was lucky to even get a photo!
• I was less-than-inspired by the view at Inspiration Point, to be frank. It was nice, but so many other National Parks have “Inspiration Points” where they truly live up to their name.
• This hike felt longer than what it was.

Have you ever hiked to Inspiration Point / Hidden Falls in Grand Teton National Park? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!