It’s easy to be entertained at the Cathedral Group Turnout. Watch sunlight, clouds and shadows moving across the tall pyramid-shaped peaks of Grand Teton National Park and try to understand the geologic activity that has happened here. Among the mountains of the Cathedral Group, Grand Teton is the tallest, with an elevation of 13,770 feet (4,200 meters).
The rough appearance of the mountains indicates their young age. Earthquakes lifted layers of sedimentary rock over the last 10 million years, exposing some of the much older igneous and metamorphic stone. Look for the slanted lines of striation of light and dark sedimentary layers above the tree line.
Glacial activity scraped and deposited rock from pebble size to large boulders here, often revealing fossils of animal life from the seafloor that once covered this area.
Closer to the base of the mountains, try to identify the fault scarp, a horizontal depression indicating the location of the 40-mile-long (64-kilometer) Teton fault line. Looking somewhat like a humanmade ditch, this trough was formed by earthquakes, one as recent as 5,900 years ago.
Bring binoculars to closely examine the craggy cliffs to see if any technical climbers are making the ascent of the major peaks with ropes and carabiners. Ambitious hikers may also be crisscrossing on steep paths above the tree line.
Using a peak map or app on your smartphone, pick out other peaks of the Cathedral Group. From this vantage point, Teewinot Mountain is to the left and Mt. Owen is to the right of Grand Teton. Arrive before sunrise or sunset to observe how these massive rocks lock quite different with dramatic lighting changes.
Find the Cathedral Group Turnout about a 35-minute drive north of Jackson, near Jenny Lake. Stop at the Teton Glacier Turnout about 7 miles (11 kilometers) south to see the park’s other unusual phenomena of massive frozen ice slabs high above the valley floor. Buy a weekly entrance fee to Grand Teton National Park and stop at these turnouts every time you travel along the park’s inner road, which opens in May and closes in November.
