Jackson Hole Birding Festival

The Jackson Hole Birding Festival returns for its second annual edition from May 27 to 30, 2026, building on a successful debut and filling a long standing gap in a region home to more than 340 bird species.

Founded by award winning Pittsburgh filmmaker David Rohm, whose PBS documentary Golden Eagles Witnesses to a Changing West brought him to the valley, the festival grew from his realization that birds were often overshadowed by the region’s famous megafauna. Registration for the 2026 festival is already open.

The festival centers on the Center for the Arts at 240 South Glenwood Street, a 78,000 square foot facility located two blocks south of Town Square that opened in 2007. From there, field trips fan out across the valley to locations normally inaccessible to the public.

Highlights include Curlew Cruises through the 24,700 acre National Elk Refuge, where participants pass through locked gates to observe the festival’s signature species, the Long billed Curlew. The Trumpeter Swan Breeding Program tour at the Wyoming Wetland Society’s captive facility sold out before the inaugural festival even began and is expected to be a top booking priority again in 2026.

Lake connections run deep throughout the program. Birding at Jackson Lake yields Trumpeter swans, American White Pelicans, cormorants, and nesting ospreys, with parking available at both ends of the Jackson Lake Dam about 30 miles north. Jenny Lake’s loop trail offers excellent birding but requires arrival before 9:00 AM to secure parking, while the $20 round trip ferry provides access to Cascade Canyon habitat. The Taggart Lake Trail, a 3.8 mile hike highly rated on AllTrails, is widely considered the region’s premier birding trail.

Notable speakers for 2026 include Diego Calderón Franco, a Colombian biologist whose presentation Birding with FARC recounts his 88 day kidnapping and later reconciliation with former guerrillas through shared bird watching. Denver Holt of the Owl Research Institute explores owl adaptations, while Tiffany Kersten, who completed a Lower 48 Big Year in 2021, speaks on elevating women in birding.

ZEISS provides nighttime thermal imaging equipment for after dark waterfowl observation, offering a rare experience not available elsewhere.

Family friendly programming includes visits to the Teton Raptor Center in Wilson, where children over age five can meet raptor ambassadors up close, followed by guided nature journaling. The Mindful Birding by Gondola session at Snow King Mountain includes a $35 lift ticket and ascends 1,571 feet to observe MacGillivray’s Warblers and Western Tanagers at elevation.

Downtown dining options within walking distance include The Bunnery, operating for more than 40 years in a historic cabin, Pearl Street Bagels, founded in 1990, and Aurora, Snow King’s summit restaurant offering dinner with sweeping Teton views 1,600 feet above town.