Paintbrush Canyon - Cascade Canyon Loop - October 2020

Summary

The Paintbrush Canyon - Cascade Canyon Loop offers tremendous views of Grand Tetons National Park throughout a challenging 20 mile loop. Because this trail is a loop compared to many other out-and-back hikes, the views and terrain continue to change. This hike checks the boxes on any mountain lover’s checklist!

AllTrails
This trail is exactly what we followed for this hike. It is also rated as one of the top trails in Grand Tetons National Park. One thing to keep in mind is this hike has over 4,000 feet of elevation gain.

Where

Grand Tetons National Park is located in Wyoming in the United States, just outside of Jackson, WY.

Logistics

This hike starts and ends at a well marked visitor center near Jenny Lake. The official start and end of this hike is at String Lake. An additional note related to logistics for this hike is that the elevation profile is dramatically different depending on which direction you hike this loop. Paintbrush Canyon to the Paintbrush Divide is much steeper and it’s recommended to hike counterclockwise to get the climbing out of the way early and avoid having steep descents. We elected to follow this recommendation and were happy with our decision.

Hiking

This loop starts at String Lake, but quickly turns northwest heading towards the Paintbrush Canyon. We started this hike around 7:00AM as daylight was breaking. The first 4 miles or so remain below treeline, mainly a mixture of pine and alpine trees. For us, given the time of year, we got to enjoy yellow alpine trees sprinkled along this section. After about 4 miles or so, the trail starts a more aggressive climb and opens up above treeline with dramatic views of the Teton mountains creating this canyon. This was the point in the trail where we all started to realize how grand the Tetons really were.

The trail continues deeper into the canyon for another 4 miles or so until it turns further northwest to start a long switchback to reach the Paintbrush Divide. We were warned about snow and exposure, however hiking this trail in October left little snow to be concerned about. The wind certainly started to pick up by the time we were approaching the divide, but nothing concerning.

The last mile leading up to the divide is pretty exposed hiking and borderline scrambling. It’s a slow mile, but worth every step! By the time we reached the divide, we couldn’t help but spend 15 minutes taking it all in. We were fortunate to have great weather at that altitude and location, and being surrounded by the mountains was quite the experience.

After we paused to reflect on the climb up to the divide and the divide itself, we started slowly descending on the other side of the divide. It was a little after noon and time to keep moving. By this time in the trail, it is smooth going. It is almost all gradual descent from here. The steepest descent occurs right away, as the first mile or so drops down to Lake Solitude. This ended up being our spot for lunch around 1:30PM.

After Lake Solitude, you realize again you’re in a National Park. A very popular out-and-back hike is Cascade Canyon to Lake Solitude. Given the aggressive elevation gain/descent was behind us, this section offered availability for a greater degree of hikers. We saw many people from this point forward, and we certainly understood why. For those looking to avoid the climb, this section offered great views, wildlife, and relatively flat terrain. The last few miles leading back to our starting point gave us a chance to take in Inspiration Point, Hidden Falls, and Jenny Lake, some of the most popular tourist destinations within the park. We finished up this loop reaching our cars at 5:00PM completing a 10 hour day hike. We left feeling like we truly experienced the Grand Tetons.

Overall, we all agreed this was the best day hike any one of us had done. It was a challenging hike with gorgeous views leaving us excited at every turn. It really did showcase the Grand Tetons National Park, and for anyone looking for a great single-day experience in the park, this hike should certainly be considered!

Photos

Photos taken on this trail are with my Canon Rebel T5 with a 24mm lens.