By Photo: Schwerdf, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The four arches at the corners of Jackson’s Town Square are built from thousands of shed elk antlers, and they are probably the most photographed objects in Wyoming outside the national parks. The first was built in the 1950s, and the arches are rebuilt periodically as antlers weather and break.
The antlers come from the National Elk Refuge, just north of town, where thousands of elk spend the winter. Bulls shed their antlers in late winter. Each spring, local Boy Scouts collect them on the refuge with permission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The auction
Most of the antlers are sold at an auction held on the Town Square each May during ElkFest. Buyers include craftsmen, furniture makers and dealers who sell antler products. Most of the proceeds go to the refuge to help pay for winter feed for the elk, with a share going to the Scouts.
Tourism in Teton County
Jackson’s economy runs on visitors to Grand Teton and Yellowstone in summer and to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Snow King in winter. The Town Square is the center of shopping, dining and nightlife.
Teton County has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country, driven by wealthy residents. It also has severe housing costs, which make it difficult for workers to live in town. Many commute from Idaho over Teton Pass, a road that was severed by a landslide in 2024 and had to be rebuilt. That episode showed how much the local economy depends on workers who live outside the county.
