Teton Valley Vibes

Spend a day exploring the quieter side of the Tetons.

// By Molly Absolon

Located on the western—quiet—side of the Teton Range, Teton Valley, Idaho, offers quaint one-stoplight towns, uncrowded outdoor recreational spaces, and spectacular scenery. Home to roughly 12,000 people and the towns of Victor, Driggs, and Tetonia, Teton Valley was identified by National Geographic Adventure and Outside as one of the best places to live in the United States for people who like adventure. Even though that was back in 2001—giving the area plenty of time to have exploded in popularity—it hasn’t exploded. 

Yes, Teton Valley has grown—its population has increased 24 percent over the last 15 years—but not so much as to have required a second stoplight. The price of single-family homes there has increased, but you can still get a lot more for your money in Teton Valley than you can in Jackson Hole. Because of this, much of Jackson Hole’s workforce makes the choice to live in Teton Valley. But more affordable housing is only part of what draws people to Teton Valley. It has a totally different vibe than Jackson—more low-key and casual, and maybe a little bit rough around the edges—and the locals like it that way. 

One day can give you a taste of what Teton Valley has to offer, although—fair warning—it’s highly likely you’ll find enough to entice you to come back for more. Mix and match from the following list to create your perfect Teton Valley day.

BREAKFAST

Victor

Known for its hearty meals (locals love the Cowboy Bowl; the pancakes also get rave reviews), friendly service, and quaint décor, Butter Café is Victor’s favorite breakfast place. Owned by Marcos Hernadez and Amelia Hatchard, (who also own Street Food in Wilson), Butter offers an eclectic blend of food that reflects Hernadez’s Mexican heritage and Hatchard’s professional training as a pastry chef. The couple met while working at the Four Seasons in Teton Village, where Hernandez served as Hatchard’s pastry steward, although Hernandez’s real passion is the homestyle Mexican cooking he learned from his mother. Open 8 a.m.–2 p.m. daily; 57 S. Main St., Victor; 208/399-2872, butterinvictor.com

Alpine Air Café serves artisan toasts and baked goods (the avocado toast, served on locally made 460 Bread, is a perennial favorite) and reflects founder Alex Suckling’s passion for everything coffee. Here, organic beans are roasted onsite in small batches for precise control over flavor and aroma. If you’re just looking for a hot beverage and a quick bite, the café has a sister drive-through in the parking lot on the corner of Main Street and Center, where you can get coffee drinks and to-go breakfast and lunch items like bacon, egg, and cheese croissants and homemade muffins. Open 7 a.m.–1 p.m. Tuesday–Sunday (closed Mondays), Coffee Hut open 6 a.m.–12:30 p.m. daily; 175 W. Center St., Victor; 208/970-8999, alpineaircoffee.com

Driggs

Rise Coffee House in Driggs has been a locals’ favorite since Martha Pendl opened its doors as Pendl’s Bakery in 2003. The first place to offer real gourmet coffee and homemade baked goods in the valley, Pendl’s was immediately popular, and people were worried that its sale and transition to Rise Coffee House in 2017 would change its beloved vibe. But Kisa Koenig and her team have kept the Pendl’s tradition going. Today, you can enjoy delicious breakfast sliders, burritos, and avocado toast, but Rise’s real claim to fame continues to be its delectable homemade baked goods, so don’t pass up on a little sweet treat to fuel your day. Open 7 a.m.–2 p.m. daily; 40 Depot St., Driggs; 208/354-7473, risedriggs.com 

Driggs’s latest coffee shop, Wydaho Roasters, is open late, and patrons are welcome to linger over their coffee, inviting mobile office-ing with a bottomless cup of joe. Beans are roasted on-site, and the café brought in a professional French pastry chef to train its on-site pastry chefs.
Open 6 a.m.–10 p.m. daily; 495 S. Main St., Driggs; 208/500-2349, wydahoroaster.com

Provisions Local Kitchen has an extensive breakfast and lunch menu, and, thanks to pine paneling, a woodstove, and a bright neon Budweiser sign over the kitchen door, the feel of an old-timey café. Portions are big and the staff friendly, but you won’t find much online about the place; there’s no website, just some Google reviews, most of which give Provisions five stars. Open 7 a.m.–3 p.m. daily; 95 S. Main St., Driggs; 208/354-2333 

morning adventure

Fat Bike Southern Valley

With wide, knobby tires, fat bikes let you ride on groomed snow trails. Rent one—booking in advance is recommended—from Wheel Wranglers, which has its storefront in Victor but will deliver rentals to the trailhead, so you don’t need to worry about transporting the bikes (fat bikes don’t fit on most standard bike racks). The Southern Valley Trail Network includes five miles of singletrack groomed for fat biking. Happy Hour, a three-mile out-and-back round-trip trail along Trail Creek, is a great option for first-timers. The trail rolls, but there aren’t any sustained climbs, and, for every up, you get a fun downhill. For more climbing and challenge, connect the Lady Slipper, Hillbender, and Nemo Trails. Check grooming status on the Teton Valley Trails and Pathways website, tvtap.org. Wheel Wranglers: open 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday; 257 W. Center St., Victor; 208/690-0164, wheelwranglersvictor.com

Snowshoe Teton Canyon

If there’s one must-see place in Teton Valley, it’s Teton Canyon. Just east of Driggs, Teton Canyon provides an unsurpassed view of the Grand Teton and its smaller neighbors, the Middle and the South Tetons. It’s also a great place to snowshoe, especially for beginners. 

Teton Valley Trails and Pathways grooms the summer road up Teton Canyon for Nordic skiing—both skate and classic—as well as fat biking. You can snowshoe along this road, but it can get crowded, so instead, head south out of the parking lot and across Sheep Bridge to a user-packed snowshoe trail that meanders through aspen groves and pine forests along Teton Creek. The four-mile out-and-back trail is mostly level, but the canyon’s dramatic walls tower overhead, and the Grand looms off in the distance. Snowshoe rentals are available at Driggs’s three outdoor retailers: Habitat, Peaked, and Yöstmark (see information under Shopping, below). 

lunch

Victor

Big Hole Barbecue owner Nick Jacob started experimenting with a meat smoker in 2008 and began selling BBQ out of a shack in Driggs later that year, but quickly he couldn’t keep up and so opened the Victor restaurant. Known for its delicate slow-cooked brisket, the menu also includes sliders, fish or shrimp tacos, mac and cheese, and chicken sandwiches and features regional ingredients like beef from the Carter Country Ranch in Tensleep, Wyoming. (There’s been a Big Hole BBQ in Jackson since 2017.) Open 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. daily; 22 W. Center St., Victor; 208/270-9919, bigholebbq.com 

Driggs

You won’t find commercial airlines at Driggs Memorial Reed Airport, but you will find one of the valley’s best restaurants, Forage Bistro and Lounge. Serving elegant food with a creative twist utilizing local and seasonal ingredients, Forage also has great Teton views. Open 12 p.m.–8 p.m. daily; 253 Warbird Ln., Driggs; 208/354-2856, forageandlounge.com 

shopping

The Emporium, readily identified by a mural on the north side of the building featuring a bear and a trout sharing a milkshake, is an eclectic gift store/ice cream shop/fly-fishing retailer. In the summer, the line for its famous huckleberry shakes goes out the door. You can still get ice cream in the winter, but if that doesn’t appeal due to the cold weather, get their huckleberry jam … and any tchotchkes, gag gifts, Patagonia clothing, fishing flies, and/or jewelry that catches your eye. Open 9 a.m.–8 p.m. daily; 45 N. Main St., Victor; 208/787-2221, facebook.com/victoremporium 

Cecily Costa—a graduate of the California Culinary Academy, self-professed foodie, and the owner/founder of the Food Shed Idaho—says her store is full of all the things she loves: Zursan heirloom beans from Idaho Falls; pork and eggs from Late Bloomer Ranch in Driggs; olive oil produced in Puglia, Italy by the De Carlo family for more than 400 years; and a variety of pastas, vinegars, and chocolates. The Wall Street Journal featured this shop last March, and Costa loves to talk about food and offer tastings. She also usually has freshly baked cookies to share with patrons. Open 12 p.m.–6 p.m. Thursday–Monday; 139 W. Center St., Victor; 208/787-7695, foodshedidaho.com

Fireweed Shop and Studio features the work of local and regional artists and also a selection of gifts, handmade jewelry, ceramics, homewares, and baby gifts curated with care by owner Katie Cooney. The shop provides studio space for creators and hosts events as part of its mission to cultivate passion, creativity, and community in Teton Valley. Open 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday; 160 E. Little Ave., Driggs; fireweedshopandstudios.com

The Local Galleria carries local and regional artwork as well as handmade clothing and jewelry and, in case you find yourself artistically inspired, art supplies. Once a month, owner Teri Mclaren hosts Paint Night; pre-sketched canvases and supplies are provided, allowing even beginners to try their hand at creating a masterpiece. Open 10 a.m.–6 p.m. daily; 25 S. Main St., Driggs; 208/270-0833, tetonvalleylocalart.com

Get your outdoor gear fix—whether rentals or sales—at Habitat Dirt and Snow, Peaked Sports, and Yöstmark Mountain Equipment. Habitat caters to boarders, Yöstmark leans toward backcountry alpine touring and mountaineering, and Peaked is geared toward resort skiers. Habitat Dirt and Snow: open 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday–Saturday; 18 N. Main St., Driggs; 208/354-7669, ridethetetons.com; Peaked Sports: open 9 a.m.–6 p.m. daily; 70 E. Little Ave., Driggs; 208/354-2354, peakedsports.com; Yöstmark Mountain Equipment: open 9 a.m.–6 p.m. daily; 110 E. Little Ave., Driggs; 208/354-2828, yostmark.com 

Bars

Victor

The Knotty Pine, Guidepost Brewing, and High Point Cider all offer drinks and food, and often have entertainment including open mic (every Monday at Guidepost), trivia, bingo, story slams, and live music. Musician David Nelson, of New Riders of the Purple Sage, once called the Knotty Pine a “psychedelic roadhouse.” Guidepost Brewing: open 4 p.m.–10 p.m. Monday–Thursday and 2 p.m.–10 p.m. Friday–Sunday; 175 W. Center St., Victor; 208/254-0558, guidepostbrewing.com;  Highpoint Cider: open 4 p.m.–9 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday; 7565 Lupine Ln., Victor; 208/648-3300, highpointcider.com; Knotty Pine Supper Club: open 4 p.m.–9 p.m. daily (for dinner, bar open later); 58 S. Main St., Victor; 208/787-2866, knottypinesupperclub.com

Driggs

The Royal Wolf is a classic small-town bar where everyone knows each other and the bartender often has your drink poured before you even ask. There’s homestyle food—burgers, sandwiches, and tacos—but most people are there for the companionship and the pool table, where you’ll always find a game. Open 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Thursday–Monday; 63 Depot St., Victor; 208/354-8365, theroyalwolf.com

Dinner

Victor

Sergio’s Cocina Mexicana is a new addition to Teton Valley’s dining scene where you’ll find large family groups next to couples on a romantic date next to someone working on their computer next to a quinceañera celebration. In the kitchen, the food is lovingly made and fussed over by grandmothers. Open 11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily; 145 S. Main St., Victor; 208/787-7529, sergioscocina.com 

Driggs 

King Sushi serves sushi in a farmhouse on the way to Grand Targhee. Good sushi in Idaho? Yup! Head chef Jason King was nominated for the James Beard Best Chef in the Mountain West in 2024, and fish is flown in daily from the East and West coasts. Open 4:30 p.m.–9 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday; 98 E. Little Ave., Driggs; 208/354-5464, kingsushijh.com 

Lula Wine Bar and Bistro is an unexpected dose of sophistication in downtown Driggs.  (If you really want to be transported out of funky Teton Valley, check out the bathrooms!) Featuring bistro-style food and wines from around the world, Lula’s also hosts special events and live music. Open 4 p.m.–9 p.m. daily; 75 W. Little Ave., Driggs; 360/600-2538, lulawinebar.com JH