By:
Submission
Dispersed camping is the term used for camping anywhere in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground. Dispersed camping means no services; such as trash removal, and little or no facilities; such as tables and fire pits, are provided. Some popular dispersed camping areas may have toilets.There are extra responsibilities and skills that are necessary for dispersed camping. It is your responsibility to know the camping rules and regulations to make your experience safe, and to keep the natural resources scenic and unspoiled for other campers.
Due to over use and high impacts, certain areas in the Jackson Hole Valley have had designated sites numbered for use. This is to help lessen the amount of impact on the resource. See map for designated spaces:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd629695.pdf
Awesome location. There’s even a restroom at the entrance. Site is primitive so be prepared.
There are two camping spots (80 yards apart) located up a semi rutted, rocky road - but a short drive to the top. (Per FS: RV's not allowed) Great view of Grand Teton. Flys and horse flys are persistent but tolerable. Bring something for shade. Grizzly territory so keep every bit of food particle stored.
My wife Liz and I are the Ambassador Volunteer Hosts for this season(early June through Labor Day 2020) We are enjoying helping to keep the Shadow Mountain camping experience as good as possible for all guests. A few things you should know:
* Don’t follow the traditional GPS direction to get here as you will most likely be directed to travel the worst possible route on terrible roads.. here’s the smart way to arrive: From Jackson, WY take highway 191 north past the Elk Refuge and proceed going straight through the first roundabout. Continue on past the Jackson Airport exit, continue on past Moose Junction to the next road to the right which is Antelope Flats Road. Drive up this road passing over Mormon Row (awesome place to stop for pics!). Continue on past Mormon Row to the stop sign and turn left onto Shadow Mountain Road drive perhaps 3 miles and look for a gravel pull off on your left and a gravel road marked to Forest Access this is the approach road to the camping area.
* The camping is designated only which means you have to park/camp at a designated spot marked with a brown numbered sign. Camping anywhere other than this is illegal and could result in a fine. This is all about protecting our public lands with proper volume of campers and allowing for the best possible guest visit.
* The lower area consists of three loops totaling about 20 spots the first loop offers two vault toilets, the next loop over we call Teton Tent Town and is for smaller vehicles and tent campers only - no RV’s or Van campers, the third loop is great for the large RV’s. Other than the two vault toilets this is the entire extent of services... no water sources, no dump station, no dumpsters and no electricity. Pack it in and out.
* Please be warned that the upper camping area while can offer terrific views the road up and all the way across the top of the mountain is very rough. Four-wheel, high clearance vehicles are strongly recommended.
* The upper camping area can be accessed by a road immediately adjacent to the first loop in the lower campground by site #1. There’s about 40 sites up top just remember very rough road. Some of the short spur roads to a few sites are very bad so we suggest stopping in the main road up then run back to see if there are open sites AND if the road is compatible with your vehicle.
* There are black and grizzly bears in the area so no food storage allowed outside your vehicle/RV. No trash can be left out nor pet food - there are bear proof safes placed in each of the three lower loops. No coolers are to be ever left “out”!
* This camping area is extremely popular due to the amazing views of the Teton Range and of course The Grand Teton and it’s all FREE camping for up to five nights (YEAH to our US Forest Service!) then you must leave the entire district for 30 days.
* Important! This campground fills every night during the season the lower loops are filled by 10-11am every morning and the upper sites by 3pm as a general rule. If you arrive after these times you’ll likely be just driving through with disappointment. Arrive early and seek out spots where guests are leaving. You CANNOT create your own campsite, don’t move barriers such as logs, don’t park along roadways, etc.
* Fires are generally allowed when not in fire bans, etc. but you must have sufficient water to drown out your fire before retiring or leaving your site - no exceptions. Let’s all do our part to protect our public lands and to keep these spaces open to the public.
We hope this will help you to have a super fun visit to Shadow Mountain! Chris & Liz
UPDATE- We’re back for another season and it’s still very busy here but not quite as bad as last year (2020). The south entry road that leads to the top of shadow mountain camp sites has had a significant upgrade so it’s now passable to the summit but from the top down the other side (north) is still very rough. We still don’t recommend taking big rigs up the mountain as the sites are just not conducive or big enough. We have added new vault toilets on the lower camping area -yeah!!
Camped in site 20 Sept 7-11. Initially came up the northern side, which was technically possible in our 2007 Subaru Forester (AWD) even with deep puddles in the road, but it had us questioning ourselves for a while especially since there’s barely any sites going up that way. Luckily we stuck through and got site 20 pretty much right at the top of the mountain. Beautiful views of the Tetons, and our site was pretty private too. Couldn’t really see anyone else from where we were camped. Went up the south side past Mormon row the rest of the time and it was much better. Saw sedans make it up that route, and that’s the side all the campsites are at anyway. Almost no bugs in September.
FREE dispersed camping along this rough dirt road. We stayed at a very forestry site. Plenty of firewood to collect along side the road. The campsites have a fire ring and lots of space for cars. We stayed the last day of September and had no issues with mosquitoes. Weather was still pleasant, just a little chilly at night. Some spots have a better view of the Tetons than others. It’s first come first served so it’s all down to chance which one you can get. Only 45 min away from death canyon trailhead.
