Rustic Mountain Lodge in Jackson
A nine-room lodge on the sage flats south of town, with a fire lit in the great room at five and coffee in a flask before dawn if you are chasing light.
Nine Rooms, Four Ways
Rates are per room per night and include breakfast. Winter is cheaper than summer here, which surprises people.
Breakfast is included in every rate. Send us dates and we will write back today — we do not take a card to hold a room.
Twenty-one winters on the sage flats
Kestrelmoor is nine rooms in a timber-frame building eight miles south of Jackson, where the road stops climbing and the sage opens out. It was a guest ranch before it was a lodge and the great room is the part that survived — post and beam, a stone hearth, and a window the size of a wall.
We are twenty-five minutes from Teton Village and about the same from the park gate, which means you sleep out here and spend the day up there.
- Ninerooms and one cabin, on eleven acres of sage
- Afire in the great room from five every evening
- Breakfastat seven; a flask at five if you are going for light
- Twenty-fiveminutes to the Village and to Moose
Around here
Things you do not pay extra for
There is no resort fee here and there never has been.
Breakfast at seven
Cooked, in the dining room off the great room, and included in every rate. If you are leaving before it we put a flask and something wrapped by the door.
The fire at five
Lit every evening between October and May whether anyone has asked for it. The great room is the reason most people book a second night.
A drying room
Racks, boot warmers and a heater, off the back hall. Twenty-one winters taught us that this matters more than almost anything else we could offer.
Coffee before dawn
Tell us the night before. There is a flask on the hall table by five for anyone going out to Schwabacher or Oxbow for first light.
The fire pit, when the weather allows
From June to October there is a fire bowl on the terrace behind the lodge, looking south down the sage to the Gros Ventre range. It gets lit around eight, after the light has gone off the mountains and before anyone has decided to go to bed.
In winter the same job is done by the great room, which is warmer and has a better floor for boots.
- ✓Lit from June to October, weather permitting
- ✓Chairs for about a dozen; more get carried out
- ✓Looks south down the flats to the Gros Ventre
- ✓Wine and beer from the bar; nothing else is sold out there
What people actually do from here
We will tell you the honest version, including when not to go.
The park, early
Moose entrance is twenty-five minutes. Be at Schwabacher by first light or do not bother in July — the pullout fills by seven and stays full.
The village, in winter
Twenty-five minutes to the tram. We are a third of the price of staying up there and the road is ploughed before six.
Town, in the evening
Eight miles north. We will book you somewhere and tell you honestly which of the places on the square is worth it this season.
Nothing, on the terrace
A genuine answer. More guests do this than plan to, and the ones who stay four nights almost always spend one of them here.
What people say after a few nights
We came for the park and spent half of it in the great room. The fire goes on at five whether or not anyone has asked, and by six everyone staying has ended up in there.
Nine rooms means the front desk is a person who already knows you are the ones going to Schwabacher at dawn. They had a flask of coffee ready at five.
We put four of us in the bunkroom for a fraction of what Teton Village wanted, twenty-five minutes down the road, and ate better for it.
Nine rooms, and September goes first
Send the nights you want and we will come back the same day with what is free.
Before you book
We are eight miles out of town
Which is the point, and means you need a car. There is no shuttle and rideshare out here is unreliable after nine at night.
There is no lift
Four of the nine rooms are on the ground floor. Say so when you book and we will put you on one.
Winter is the cheap season
Rates drop a lot from January to March and the lodge is at its best in snow. Most people assume the opposite.
The wifi is fine, the signal is not
Wifi reaches every room. Cell coverage on the flats is patchy on most carriers, which we would rather tell you now.
How to book a room
No deposit, no card held, no confirmation from a system that is not us.
Send your dates
The form below or ring the lodge. Tell us which room and how many of you.
We answer the same day
What is free, the total, and anything specific about that room — which floor, which way it faces.
You confirm
That is the booking. Pay when you arrive.
Plans change
Free more than a week out. Inside a week we ask for one night if we cannot fill the room.
Asked most often
How far is the national park?
About twenty-five minutes to the Moose entrance and the same again to Jenny Lake. If you are going for sunrise at Schwabacher Landing, leave here an hour before first light and tell us the night before so there is a flask on the hall table.
Is breakfast included?
Yes, in every rate, cooked and served in the dining room from seven. If you are leaving before that we put out a flask and something wrapped. We do not charge for either.
Do we need a car?
Yes. We are eight miles south of Jackson with no shuttle, and rideshare out here gets thin after nine at night. Parking is free and there is plenty of it.
How cold does it get?
Genuinely cold — well below zero in January. Every room has proper heat, there is a drying room for boots and skis, and the fire in the great room goes on at five. Winter is our best season and our cheapest.
Can we book the whole lodge?
Yes — nine rooms plus the cabin, up to twenty-four people, three nights minimum. Families do it for reunions and a couple of small companies do it for offsites. Ring rather than using the form.
Are dogs allowed?
In the Cabin only, where there is a woodstove and a door straight outside. Not in the main lodge, because the great room is where everyone sits and not everyone wants a dog in it.
Check dates
Tell us when you want to come and which room appeals. We answer the same day — and nothing is charged until you arrive.