Driggs
The county seat of the Tetons' quiet side — Targhee powder up the road, a runway in town
About Driggs
Driggs is the county seat and working center of Teton Valley — the high, open basin locals call the quiet side of the Tetons. The view here is the one the postcards miss: the west face of the Grand Teton, straight on, above a valley floor of hay meadows and potato ground at 6,200 feet. Main Street holds the courthouse, the Teton Geo Center, a craft brewery, and a farmers market on summer Fridays; Ski Hill Road leaves downtown and climbs twelve miles through Alta to Grand Targhee, where roughly 500 inches of snow fall in an average winter.
Two details set Driggs apart from every other Teton-view town. The first is the airport: Driggs–Reed Memorial’s 7,300-foot runway handles private aircraft with ease, and the adjacent airpark lets owners taxi from hangar to home. The second is range — in-town lots and townhomes, homes along Tributary’s David McLay Kidd golf course, and rural acreage with a full Teton skyline, all at a cost of entry well below the Wyoming side.
Driggs suits buyers playing a longer game: remote workers and pilots, Targhee loyalists, families who want a functioning small town, and Jackson commuters willing to trade Teton Pass for more land and light. It is the valley’s center of gravity, and it is growing on its own terms.
Why Buyers Choose Driggs
Targhee up the road
Twelve miles up Ski Hill Road to Grand Targhee's deep, uncrowded snow — roughly 500 inches in an average winter, without the destination-resort crowds.
A real runway
Driggs–Reed Memorial's 7,300-foot runway and adjoining fly-in airpark make Driggs one of the few true aviation towns in the Rockies.
The west-side view
From the valley floor, the west face of the Grand Teton stands straight ahead — a full-range skyline with no foothills in the way.
Room to buy well
In-town lots, Tributary golf homes, and Teton-view acreage at a cost of entry the Wyoming side has not offered in a generation.
A working Main Street
County-seat downtown with a courthouse, brewery, bakery, and Friday farmers market — a town that functions in all four seasons, not just in ski season.
Teton River water
A renowned dry-fly cutthroat fishery winds the valley floor minutes from town, with the South Fork within easy day-trip range.
Seasonal Highlights
Summer
Hot-air balloons lift off over the valley during the Teton Valley Balloon Rally each Fourth of July, and the Spud Drive-In has run films under the same big screen since 1953. Days go to the Teton River, the Horseshoe Canyon bike trails, Darby Canyon’s Wind Cave, and golf at Tributary; Friday evenings go to the farmers market downtown.
Winter
Targhee’s snowfall is the headline, but the valley floor keeps its own season: groomed Nordic tracks at Sherman Park, Alta, and Teton Reserve, snowmobile country across the Big Hole Mountains, and the Driggs Snowscapes sculpture festival downtown. Nights run cold and clear — this is a true high valley — and the payoff is deep snow and short lift lines twenty-five minutes from your door.
Driggs Area
Frequently Asked Questions
Driggs offers Teton access at a materially lower cost of entry than Jackson Hole, which is why many buyers — and a meaningful share of Jackson’s workforce — choose the Idaho side. You give up Wyoming’s tax profile and a short drive to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in exchange for more land, bigger views, and a functioning small town. For buyers oriented to Grand Targhee, the trade favors Driggs outright.
Grand Targhee is about twelve miles and twenty-five minutes up Ski Hill Road through Alta. Jackson is roughly an hour over Teton Pass in good conditions — a spectacular drive, though the pass demands respect in winter, when storms and avalanche control can close it for stretches. Many residents make the commute daily, and the START bus runs the route as well.
Yes — Driggs–Reed Memorial Airport (KDIJ) sits within city limits, with a 7,300-foot runway that accommodates most private aircraft and an adjacent fly-in airpark community. For commercial service, Jackson Hole Airport is across the pass, and Idaho Falls Regional, about an hour and a quarter west, offers direct connections to major hubs.
Idaho carries a modest flat state income tax, which Wyoming does not, and neither state levies an estate or inheritance tax. Idaho’s homeowner’s exemption meaningfully reduces property tax on owner-occupied primary residences. The honest frame: the tax story favors the Wyoming side, the value story favors Driggs — and for many buyers the difference in cost of entry outweighs the tax delta. Confirm the specifics with your advisor.
Teton School District 401 is headquartered in the valley, with Driggs Elementary, Rendezvous Upper Elementary, Teton Middle School, and Teton High School all in town — a rarity for a community this size. Mountain Academy of Teton Science Schools operates an independent-school campus in nearby Victor. Families weighing both sides of the Tetons tend to find the valley’s schools a draw rather than a compromise.
Walk the quiet side
From in-town lots to Tributary and full-view acreage, Driggs rewards buyers who know the valley road by road. A KWJH agent who works both sides of the pass can show you where it's headed.
Connect with an Agent