Snake River Overlook The Snake originates in Yellowstone, flows through the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, and into Jackson Lake at the north edge of Grand Teton National Park. When the Snake passes over the dam out of Jackson Lake, it wanders east toward Moran Junction, creating Oxbow Bend along the way, and then becomes a braided stream that runs south-southwest until it exits the park just south of the Moose Visitor Center. South of Jackson, the Snake speeds up, merges with the Hoback River, and becomes a whitewater stream as it heads westward toward Idaho. Waters from the Snake eventually join the Columbia and pour into the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon. The very mention of the the word Wyoming evokes the essence of the American West. Wyoming is all that innumerable movies, novels and legends have tried to capture. This Western Spirit thrives to this day in the Cowboy State. The name Wyoming has its origins in an Algonquin word meaning \"large prairie place \".