August 29, 2004 in Outdoors

Tourists explore Teton’s wonders on their wheels

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Associated Press photo

A bicyclist from the Driggs, Idaho-based group “Women Tours” enjoys a ride from Jackson to Coulter Bay as she passes through Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming.
(Full-size photo)

Grand Teton National Park is all about the mountains.

Doing almost anything is more fun while watching the jagged peaks shift in front of forested hillsides and alpine lakes, and biking through the park is becoming one of the most popular ways to do that.

California visitor David Sasaki took his 14-year-old son and a friend through the park on rented bicycles during their recent vacation. “We like this much better than Yellowstone — especially with the kids — because it’s less time in the car,” Sasaki said.

Traveling at a slower pace in the open air also allows visitors to notice things, like the purple and yellow wildflowers along the road that are benefiting from the summer rainstorms.

“In the last five years, there’s been an exponential growth in bicycling in the park,” said Joan Anzelmo, the park’s spokeswoman.

It’s a trend she attributes to cycling’s growing popularity across the county, perhaps helped by Lance Armstrong’s record-setting performance in the Tour de France.

You don’t have to have Armstrong’s mountain-stomping legs to enjoy the park. In fact, trail riding is prohibited in most National Parks. But plenty of unpaved and paved routes are open to cyclists, and some parks, such as Grand Teton, are beginning to incorporate bike paths.

It’s something Beverly Charette of Driggs, Idaho, tries to do every few weeks. However, her favorite time to tour the park is in the spring, when the roads are plowed but still closed to motor vehicles to allow the ground underneath to thaw.

For summer rides, Charette recommends doing the loop around Jenny Lake and stopping for a dip in String Lake to cool off, if an afternoon thundershower doesn’t beat you to it.

Fall also is a good cycling season in parks, as traffic thins and autumn colors abound.

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