Greater Yellowstone Travelers: Teton Pass Closed Indefinitely

Absarokanaut

Absarokanaut

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Joined
Sep 17, 2014
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Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass to Teton Valley, Idaho will be closed indefinitely, I've heard speculation of up to two months if not more. I'm hoping the engineers can ultimately render those predictions pessimistic but whatever the case the lives of many people will be harder for some time.

In 2022 Yellowstone suffered historic floods and this Valley (Jackson Hole) took an economic punch in the gut all summer. This could be worse for the town of Jackson. In the short term all the folks that are vacationing in Teton Valley for more budget friendly lodging to see Grand Teton National Park and the rest of Jackson Hole have an hour longer drive each way. In the long term knowing many of them I am most sympathetic for the thousands of Teton Valley residents that for decades have relied on Teton Pass to commute to work here in the Jackson area.

Folks in Victor and Driggs have at least 2 hours added to their daily commute. Might be worse because the last leg of that route is on the existing busy commuter route from Alpine and Star Valley. This will hurt business on both sides of the pass. . First world problems but bummers nonetheless.


buckrail.com/wydot-teton-pass-catastrophically-failed-long-term-closure-expected/

On Taylor Mountain North of Highway 22 west of Teton Pass.

Gonna be a much longer drive for folks here in The Hole to see the phenomenal wildflowers at Coal Creek Meadows and hike on up Taylor Mountain. On taylor Mountain North of Hwy 22 West of Teton Pass. Taylor North.jpg
 
wsp_scott said:
I was looking at Winds trip reports today and realized that I had not seen you around. I miss seeing your trip reports with your kids ;) Hope they and you are well.
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Yeah, all good. Older kids as teens and tweens now are much more into their friends than family stuff like that, and I do have a handful of trips to catch up on with reports. Life just keeps getting busier and busier it seems and growing kids are a part of that. I do intend to be a bit more active on here again from week to week again, especially with summer in full swing now.
 
Sad news for the commuters for sure. Just glad they caught this in time and shut down the road before there were casualties.
 
OldBill said:
Sad news for the commuters for sure. Just glad they caught this in time and shut down the road before there were casualties.
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The road was already closed due to a mudslide. Otherwise, it's a busy road and who knows? It's going to effect Driggs and environs as many people there commute to Jackson, and the people in Jackson are going to be hurting for workers. The go-around is through Alpine and is about a 2 hour drive. I'm pretty active on the Teton Valley FB page as I usually spend part of my summer in Driggs and several people are already talking about moving out of the area because they don't want to commute that far. Maybe they can make a temp workaround, but the slide came down from the very top of the mountain and the unstable area is pretty extensive.
 
Rockskipper said:
Maybe they can make a temp workaround, but the slide came down from the very top of the mountain and the unstable area is pretty extensive.
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Hope so. Like you say, the entire area is unstable and landslides are part of it. Big ones like Slide L in the Gros Ventre. Minor ones right in Jackson a few years back if I recall right. Going to be a traffic nightmare for folks.

From what I understand, the info started with a motor cycle accident caused by a large crack in the road Thursday at mile 12.8. Road was closed Friday to deal with mudslide at mile 15 while crews were working to repair damage at mile 12.8 when it collapsed Saturday.

Rt 22 collapse timeline - JH News
 
Guess we'll be taking the extra long way around to Bechler RS this summer.

I really feel for the local workers who typically commute that way.
 
Can cut across the grassy lake gravel road
 
Yeah... They always give the worst.... So when they finish something early everyone is happy
 
shredhiker said:
Guess we'll be taking the extra long way around to Bechler RS this summer.

I really feel for the local workers who typically commute that way.
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You could also take Grassy Lake Road. Not very fast but at least interesting and a bit more direct.

Edit: whoops, just saw that Bob had beaten me to the punch.
 
A bypass..... right near the old piece of road.
 
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