Jackson Hole is a natural arena of activities that have drawn people in search of a challenge or their own personal limits since the mountain men held their first rendezvous here. Summer allows for easy and safe access into the backcountry for fly fishing, hiking, boating, biking, climbing, wildlife viewing and camping. Jackson Hole is a 50-mile-long recreational smorgasboard, snuggled into the northwest corner of Wyoming just below Yellowstone National Park. It's surrounded by five mountain ranges, including the Tetons, named by the French trappers who first saw them and which tower more than 10,000 feet above the Snake River and the valley floor.

Jackson is best known for its skiing and snowmobiling, but the town shakes off the persistent effects of winter and embraces summer, its people enjoying celebratory first runs through Yellowstone and visits with Ol' Faithful before the tourists arrive. Wildlife is everywhere and the elk herds which winter just outside of town disperse and return to their mountains.

Let's just say there's a lot to do here. Scenic chairlift rides from the base of Snow King Ski Resort and Grand Targhee Resort (on the Idaho side of the Tetons) are always good for a start. There's the Grand Teton Music Festival, hiking, rock climbing and mountain biking, museums and galleries, rodeo, tennis and golf, hunting in the fall - and more than 100 restaurants if you're into recreational eating.

Whitewater enthusiasts come for the rapids, or more sedate floats down the Snake River, kayaking and canoeing in Grand Teton National Park. Lots of wildlife, lots of it really wild and not fond of people trying to feed it greasy hamburgers or ice cream cones. Moose, elk, deer, bison... and bear. Find a safe distance and enjoy these mobile monuments, they're meant to be admired and left alone.

The town gets busy in summer, but since more than 90 percent of the valley is federal land, it's never hard to get away from people. You can find accommodations in the heart of Jackson or up in the mountains. Many visitors looking for bargains stay at Teton Village, at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort; others spend a week or two at famous guest ranches, most of them near the Gros Ventre (Gro Vant) mountains on the east side of the valley. After 40 years and nine million riders the Jackson Hole Aerial tram was closed in October 2006 to make way for a new, state of the art tramway that will have the longest continual vertical rise of any ski resort in North America. Construction of the new tram is under way, and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort plans to unveil it in December 2008.

In addition to daily non-stop flights from seven major cities, Jackson Hole has new non-stop daily flights from Chicago on United Airlines. Jackson is easy to reach by air (it has the only jet airport actually within a national park), or you can fly into Salt Lake City and drive roughly 300 beautiful miles north to the Tetons.