Marion Lake
What to Expect
Safety Advisory
This is serious grizzly and black bear country — carry bear spray accessible on your hip, not buried in your pack. Make noise on blind corners in the forested canyon sections where surprise encounters happen.
Afternoon thunderstorms roll in fast above treeline during July and August. The exposed sections near the lake offer zero shelter, so plan to be below the alpine zone by early afternoon or accept the risk of getting caught in lightning.
The trail crosses snowfields that can obscure the route in early summer. Without navigation skills and proper traction gear, a wrong line on steep snow above the lake can end in a long, uncontrolled slide into rocks.
Trail Details
Pro Tips
Consider taking the Jackson Hole aerial tram up Rendezvous Mountain and hiking down to Marion Lake instead — it shaves off brutal elevation gain and turns the approach into a ridgeline traverse with views that justify the tram ticket.
Snow lingers on the upper sections well into July most years. Check ranger station conditions the morning of your hike and carry microspikes even in midsummer — a snow-covered traverse above the lake has turned back plenty of confident hikers.
The outlet stream at the lake's south end catches golden hour light against the Teton crest in late afternoon. Time your arrival for around 4 PM on a clear day and you'll get photographs that look like someone adjusted the saturation slider on reality.
Photos
NPS Photo/J. Bonney
