Hi there!
Amphitheater Lake is one of the many lakes in Grand Teton National Park that you can hike to.
📌 Save this post for later! Save on Pinterest! 👈📌
There are partner websites included in this post.
You can make it a hike to only Amphitheater Lake, or you can also add on to your hike and also hike to one or 2 more lakes too.
The most reasonable additional lake to hike to is Surprise Lake.
You will pass right by it as you are hiking to Amphitheater Lake!
So, when you see the trail that goes to Surprise Lake, you can have a walk down that way to have a little bit of a walk around that lake.
And then, you can continue on to Amphitheater Lake!
Amphitheater Lake is 0.2 miles past Surprise Lake.
And then the other lake you might want to add on to your Amphitheater Lake hike is a hike to Delta Lake.
You can choose to go to Delta Lake before or after your hike to Amphitheater Lake. This adds on strenuous miles to your hike.
It might be better to go before, while you have a lot of energy, because the additional hike to Delta Lake isn’t exactly easy. You will need to do a massive climb UP and across big boulders to get to it!
You will also want to make sure you understand how to get to Delta Lake before you go, because many people have reported not being able to find the trail.
Amphitheater Lake is not hard to find and it is pretty straightforward!
The hike to Amphitheater Lake is a difficulty level of hard, though!
It requires time and effort!
You will be hiking up up up to get to Amphitheater Lake!
The hike to Amphitheater Lake is 9.6 miles round trip.
You will be hiking uphill for 4.8 miles to Amphitheater Lake, and then you will be hiking back down.
The National Park Service recommends giving yourself 5 to 7 hours for the hike to Amphitheater Lake.
The National Park Service also warns about altitude sickness and the difficulty of hiking to Amphitheater Lake:
The trail gains 3,000 ft over five miles and can be hazardous for those not acclimated to high altitude.
The best cure for altitude sickness is to retreat to a lower elevation.
Amphitheater Lake is a high altitude hike.
Amphitheater Lake is at an elevation of 9,698 feet.
The hike to Amphitheater Lake starts at an elevation of 6,732 feet.
This is the elevation of Lupine Meadows trailhead. (Lupine Meadows pdf)
In case you don’t know what that means, around 8,500 feet is the generally accepted elevation for what’s considered to be “high” altitude.
In general, you tend to not feel the effects of the altitude as much if you are slowly making your way up… which you will be going slow since you will be on foot.
So you may not feel the effects of altitude while hiking to Amphitheater Lake in terms of real physical effects and altitude sickness, but it is possible.
In terms of doing the hike, it is also possible that you find yourself to get out of breath more quickly.
So keep this in mind as you’re deciding your plans before you go, and in making decisions when you’re out on the trail, in determining if the safer decision is to turn around.
You can read more about high altitude here.
Fun website to have loaded on your phone: whatismyelevation.com! You don’t need data for this, you just need GPS. So as long as you don’t exit out of this website, you can look at it at any time during your hike and it will tell you your current elevation! You can test it out at home in airplane mode.
How to get to Amphitheater Lake
- Enter Grand Teton National Park
- Drive to the Lupine Meadows trailhead
- Start hiking the Surprise Amphitheater Trail!
- Hike up up up…
- Arrive at Amphitheater Lake!
1. Enter Grand Teton National Park
The start of Amphitheater Lake is in Grand Teton National Park, so you will have to go through an official Grand Teton National Park entry booth to get there.
Cost to hike to Amphitheater Lake
Because the Amphitheater Lake hike is within the paid entry area of Grand Teton National Park, it means that there is a cost to hike to Amphitheater Lake.
That is the Grand Teton National Park entry fee.
In 2023, this is $35 per car for a 7-day Grand Teton pass. (There is no one-day pass.) See current fees.
👆 Cost of Grand Teton National Park entry fees.
If you will be visiting at least 3 national parks in one year, then you may want to consider getting the annual national parks pass.
2. Drive to the Lupine Meadows trailhead
The starting point of the Amphitheater Lake hike is at the Lupine Meadows trailhead.
Google maps will get you there. (map)
You may not have data service in Grand Teton National Park, so you may want to download offline google maps before you go. This is free.
You will be driving on part of the Grand Teton Scenic Loop Drive to get to the start of the Amphitheater Lake hike.
Depending on which direction you’re coming from, you might want to also drive along the Jenny Lake Scenic Drive on your way to the Amphitheater Lake hike.
When you are near the road to the Lupine Meadows trailhead, you will see a sign for it.
And then you will keep driving until you get to the Lupine Meadows trailhead parking lot!
It is a scenic drive to get to the parking lot aka the start of the Amphitheater Lake hike!
👆 On this particular late September day between 10am and 11am, parking was not an issue at all. But it seems that if you go at peak season in the summer, parking can be an issue. Many people recommend getting to here early to secure a parking spot.
3. Start hiking the trail to Amphitheater Lake!
You will just keep following the Surprise Amphitheater Trail to Amphitheater Lake.
👆 From the Lupine Meadows trailhead, it’s 4.8 miles to Amphitheater Lake one-way.
Follow the signs to Amphitheater Lake!
👆 1.8 miles to go to get to Amphitheater Lake!
4. Stop by Surprise Lake… if you are up for it!
5. Arrive at Amphitheater Lake!
Bring food with you and take a break to eat at Amphitheater Lake!
And of course, bring plenty of water!
And then after you’ve rested up and taken in the views, you can start the hike back down!
From Amphitheater Lake, it’s 4.8 miles back down to the parking lot!
Hiking poles can be helpful for this hike!
I hiked to Amphitheater Lake in September 2021. Everything subject to change, but this is how it was when I went!
And that’s a bit about hiking to Amphitheater Lake!
More for your trip to Grand Teton National Park and beyond:
- How to spend one day in Grand Teton National Park
- Driving the 42-mile Grand Teton scenic loop drive
- Driving from Grand Teton to Yellowstone
- How to spend one day in Yellowstone National Park
- Wyoming hikes with amazing views
- Best places to visit in Wyoming
HAPPY HIKING TO AMPHITHEATER LAKE!
There are partner websites included in this post. I may earn a commission.