Signal Mountain

The top of Signal Mountain offers amazing views of the valley floor.

NPS Photo/A. Matson

Quick Facts

Amenities

3 listed

Audio Description, Restroom, Scenic View/Photo Spot

On a clear day, the sweeping view from the summit of Signal Mountain captures five mountain ranges surrounding the Jackson Hole valley. The Teton Range rises to the west, the Snake River Range to the southwest, the Gros Ventre Range to the southeast, the Absarokas to the east and Yellowstone Plateau to the north.

In early summer wildflowers add splashes of yellow, pink and lavender to the silvery gray-green of the sagebrush. The Snake River winds it way south from Jackson Lake cutting a silver swath across the valley. Either hike or drive to this summit that rises about 900 feet above the valley--the highest point in the park accessible by car.

Road access has seasonal closures from late fall to late spring (weather dependent).

Name Origin

In 1891, Robert Ray Hamilton went missing while hunting in Jackson Hole. Searchers agreed to light a signal fire on the summit of this mountain when he was found. Seven days later, Hamilton's drowned body was found in the Snake River two miles below Jackson Lake Dam. His partner, John D. Sargent, was a suspect in Hamilton's demise.