Jenny Lake Overlook

View Across Jenny Lake

Quick Facts

Amenities

2 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Wheelchair Accessible

Jenny Lake is the most popular destination in the park. The view across the lake toward Cascade Canyon is stunning. Pleistocene glaciers carved the U-shaped canyon and the basin filled by the lake today. Many people have visited in the past-American Indians, fur trappers, survey expeditions, dude ranchers, car campers and adventurers. The lake is named for a Shoshone Indian woman named Jenny who married a British fur trapper named Richard "Beaver Dick" Leigh. Richard and Jenny assisted the Hayden Survey of 1872 as they mapped and explored the valley. Notice these names as you travel around the park.

Name Origin

Jenny was the Shoshone Indian wife of a British expatriate named Richard "Beaver Dick" Leigh. He moved to the Teton area in 1863 as a fur trapper. Jenny and Beaver Dick assisted the 1872 Hayden expedition - he as their guide, she with camp logistics. The Hayden Expedition named Jenny and Leigh lakes in their honor.