Winter in Grand Teton National Park is a wonderland of snow and ice. Sure, summertime is nice with fields of flowers and abundant wildlife. Winter finds the bears fast asleep in their dens and most of the elk and buffalo have moved on to lower elevations.

If you are okay with a little cold weather, wintertime is a great time to visit the Tetons. It is not as crowded as during the summer.

My wife and I made a trip over to Jackson, Wyoming recently. We both like downhill skiing. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is nearby and has a well-deserved reputation of being a “big mountain” ski resort. However, at our age we are not that thrilled about hucking off cliffs and the near $200 a day lift ticket is a bit much. We skipped the glitzy resort scene and decided to explore the nearby park.

Grand Teton National Park has some of the most scenic cross-country and snowshoe trials around. Once you pay your entrance fee you are free to explore. There are groomed trails (classic cross country and skate) from the Taggart Lake trail head all the way to Jenny Lake and beyond. The most popular area is Taggart Lake trailhead just north of the Moose entrance.

The road to Jenny Lake is closed and instead the road is groomed for cross-country skiing — both classic and skate skiing. Grooming takes place several times a week.

Snowshoeing to Taggart Lake is another option. The trail head is located at the end of the road north of Moose. It is a busy parking lot and a busy trail up to Taggart Lake. The snowshoe hike is only about 3 or 4 miles total with modest elevation gain, so it is a great place for a beginner.

The groomed cross-country ski trail and snowshoe trails are nice and provide postcard scenic views but if you want to get away from it all, strike out on one of the skin tracks near the Taggart Lake trailhead. (Skin tracks are ungroomed skier-made trails.) You only need to ski about a quarter mile off the main trail to be out on your own.

We chose the Cottonwood Creek Trail. This trail starts at the Taggart Lake trailhead parking lot. The trail parallels the groomed cross-country trail to Jenny Lake. The trail is fairly flat and weaves in and out of the forest with spectacular views of the Tetons.

The Cottonwood Creek Trail leads to the Lucas-Fabian homestead, a group of eight log buildings dating to the early 1900s.

You will not find this homestead on any Grand Teton Park brochure or map. There are no signs from the road. It is a real hidden gem.

These cabins once housed John Rockefeller’s land agents. The land agents, with the financing of Rockefeller, were instrumental in expanding Grand Teton National Park. If it were not for Rockefeller, the road along Grand Teton National Park would be lined with subdivisions and convenience stores.

If you are not afraid of a little cold weather, skip the summer crowds and visit Grand Teton National Park in the winter.