Discover Jackson: Town Square, Snow King, and Nature

If you’re looking for a hotel in Jackson, choosing a focus for your trip can help narrow down your destination: Jackson combines a distinctive landmark at Town Square with history, rodeo, activities at Snow King Mountain, and wildlife viewing. Options range from year-round offerings to seasonal activities. When planning, consider both the time of year and the topics that interest you most.

Town Square: Landmark and Events

At each of the four corners of Town Square is an arch made of elk antlers sourced from the nearby Elk Refuge. This distinctive feature makes the square a prominent landmark in Jackson and connects it to a specific element of the surrounding area.

In winter, there is an ice-skating rink at Town Square. Since it operates seasonally, check the season dates before visiting. The square is also the site of rallies, memorial events, an Easter egg hunt, and other lively events held throughout the year. Specific events vary; if you want to plan your trip around a particular date, it’s worth checking the relevant dates.

Local History, Walking Tours, and Rodeo

At the Jackson Hole History Museum, the Main Gallery covers more than 11,000 years of human history in Jackson Hole. The exhibits include texts, artifacts, and videos, as well as pull-out drawers with objects visitors can touch and interactive kiosks. These different ways of presenting information offer visitors a range of ways to engage: you can read about historical topics, view objects, and explore selected content interactively.

The museum also offers public, one-hour guided walking tours of downtown Jackson led by a local guide. The tours are scheduled seasonally, so check the available dates before your trip if you’d like to plan a tour.

The Jackson Hole Rodeo offers a different perspective on local life. Events include bareback riding, bull riding, barrel racing, team roping, saddle bronc riding, and mini bull riding. The specific program may vary, but these events give an idea of the rodeo’s range. When planning your trip, it helps to distinguish between a museum visit, a guided tour, and a rodeo as different points of focus.

Snow King Mountain in Every Season

Snow King Mountain is just a short walk from Town Square and is a year-round destination for recreation, adventure, and outdoor activities. In winter, Snow King is a ski area offering skiing, snowboarding, tubing, and night skiing. These winter activities complement the seasonal ice-skating rink at Town Square with more ways to enjoy the cold season in Jackson. Seasonal operating conditions may vary.

The Snow King Gondola offers panoramic views of Jackson, the surrounding mountain ranges, and the Tetons. It operates seasonally and is weather-dependent. Snow King can therefore be considered both a destination with year-round appeal and a place with individual seasonal activities.

National Elk Refuge and Wildlife Viewing

The National Elk Refuge & Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center is an interagency visitor center in Jackson. Refuge Road is the official entrance to the National Elk Refuge. In winter, the refuge is a place to view elk, bighorn sheep, trumpeter swans, and bald eagles that overwinter there. These wildlife-viewing opportunities are explicitly seasonal, taking place in winter.

The National Elk Refuge also offers free educational programs year-round; scheduled programs may change. When planning a trip, it’s worth distinguishing the year-round educational programs, whose scheduled dates may change, and seasonal wildlife-viewing opportunities from the town offerings at Town Square and the history at the museum.

The time of year you choose makes a practical difference: in winter, you can enjoy the ice-skating rink, winter sports, and viewing overwintering wildlife, while events at Town Square and the refuge’s educational programs are offered year-round. Individual event dates and the gondola’s seasonal, weather-dependent operation require separate planning. This makes it possible to assess Jackson based on both cultural interests and seasonal nature and outdoor activities.

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