Grand Teton National Park Geology

Grand Teton National Park provides a vacation spot that combines scenic splendor, a diverse environment with abundant wildlife and excellent recreational opportunities – all as the result of a varied geological history.

The geology of the Grand Teton National Park dates back over a billion years, providing excellent wildlife, plant and bird habitats, as well as unique rock and crust formations that may mean nothing more than beautiful scenery to the many millions of annual park visitors. It is because of this geology that many forms of recreation are available.

MAIN GEOLOGICAL FEATURE
The Grand Teton Mountains are the main feature of the park, rising from seven thousand to over thirteen thousand feet above the nearby valleys including Jackson Hole. They are characterized by fifty million year old mountains, the famed Teton Fault, Precambrian rocks, ancient bedrock, Mesozoic rocks, Paleozoic rocks, sedimentary deposits and unique rivers and valley floors.

OTHER GEOLOGIAL FEATURES
Major geological features that are of prime interest include -

• Mount Moran Gneiss where metamorphic rocks can be seen by hikers
• Mount Owen Granite's light igneous rocks
• Black Dike on Mount Moran that dates back over one billion years
• Western side of the Teton Fault with Mesozoic and Paleozoic rocks
• Bright colors of rocks in local slides and the sedimentary rock deposits found along the Skyline hiking trail

The majority of the features are new, dating back only one hundred and fifty years, making the Grand Teton National Park's mountains among the youngest in the American Rocky Mountains.