David Hunger has built his Teton Mountain Bike Tours guide service on 15 years’ of pedaling about the national park and through the surrounding national forests. Not surprisingly, he knows where the secret cycling stashes lie, where the automobile traffic can be too uncomfortable for cycling, and where the wildlife lurks. His “Snake River Tour,” for instance, not only leads you away from the Teton Park Road and closer to the river along an old dirt road once used by film crews shooting Westerns in the park but also reveals moose, antelope, bison,
elk, eagles and osprey. Timing is everything, and for a lucky few the rides provide views of fox, badgers and even bears.

Mountain bikes are the preferred cycle for this park, as their suspension systems take some of the bite out of washboard roads. When families show up with youngsters, David prefers to head to Antelope Flats, where he cobbles together a fairly level eight-to-ten-mile loop tour that swings close to the Gros Ventre River, past Blacktail Butte, and down Mormon Row where the well-weathered and weary homesteads of late-19th century settlers dot the landscape. Got kids between the ages of 1 and 4 years old? David will attach a Burley Child Trailer to your bike. For kids 5-to-7 he’ll turn to an Adams Trail-A-Bike that fastens to your mountain bike so the youngsters can contribute some pedaling while you do most of the work.

Single-track enthusiasts seeking more of a workout or cyclists interested in an introduction to trail riding often are led out of the valley and up into the alpine meadows and thick pine forests atop Togwotee Pass, where they can rip across rolling terrain for 18 miles.

While most of Hunger’s tours revolve around half-day and full-day outings, he doesn’t mind setting out for multi-day treks that tour both Grand Teton National Park and nearby Yellowstone National Park. These rides take advantage of dirt service roads with an occasional single-track option and show off not only the Tetons but some of Yellowstone’s geysers. Accommodations are in bed-and-breakfast establishments and lodges.