Everything you should know about Great Basin National Park

Despite its majestic mountain peaks, Great Basin National Park’s story started underground. In 1885, local rancher Absalom Lehman publicized the spectacular marble caverns that now bear his name, drawing curious visitors from across the West. Protected as Lehman Caves National Monument in 1922, the surrounding mountains and forests were added when Congress and President Ronald Reagan designated it as a park in 1986. 

The park packs in the superlatives: ancient caves, titanic peaks, the earth’s oldest living trees, and biodiversity that shifts from desert to alpine in a 30-minute drive. But in a national park system brimming with visitors, the 77,180-acre park saw just 206,326 visitors in 2025. One of Great Basin’s perks is how relatively unknown it remains to travelers.

Perched on the eastern Nevada border, this is a land of long drives and limited services that rewards travelers willing to venture off the beaten path. Here’s how to make the most of your visit. 

(Avoid crowds at the 10 least-visited U.S. national parks.)

Best times to visit Great Basin National Park     

Summer is the Great Basin’s signature season. Its remote location limits the number of visitors, and the park provides an oasis from desert heat at over 10,000-feet of elevation. The main road, Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, fully opens as snow clears, typically by Memorial Day. Be prepared for afternoon showers, courtesy of the Southwest monsoon season. 

The park is open year-round for the adventurous. Fall gives way to golden aspens and long, clear nights for stunning stargazing, including the Great Basin Astronomy Festival in September—the first heavy snowfalls typically close roads in early November. But several trails remain open for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, and the park loans visitors snowshoes for free. Come prepared, as many services in the nearby town of Baker are closed. Great Basin National Park fully opens in the spring, but timing is unpredictable depending on the year’s snowpack. 

Where to find the best views in the park   

Nevada has more than 300 mountain ranges, but the hike to the Wheeler Peak Summit (8.6 miles/14 km) delivers one of the state’s most spectacular panoramas at 13,065 feet. This is the park’s most challenging trail, but a clear day unveils more than 100 miles of seemingly endless desert valleys and rugged ranges.

For a classic alpine view without the climb, head to Stella Lake. Framed by limestone and granite peaks, the lake’s striking reflections in the calm morning hours are picture-perfect.

Everyone can enjoy the 12-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, which climbs more than 4,000 feet from the desert floor, with pullouts offering views of brush basins, pinyon pines, conifers, aspen groves, and the surrounding mountains.

Don’t leave after sunset. As an International Dark Sky Park, Great Basin offers some of the darkest skies in the Lower 48. Watch the Milky Way emerge to the naked eye without light pollution.

Where to find the best hiking trails     

The park’s scenic drive ends at a hotspot of popular trailheads with minimal elevation change. The Alpine Lakes Looppacks a lot in just 2.7 miles (4.4 km), winding past Stella and Teresa lakes and sweeping views of Wheeler Peak. Bristlecone Pine Grove Trail shares a portion of the loop. The 2.8-mile (4.5 km) round-trip hike visits some of the oldest organisms on Earth. 

Continue beyond the grove to reach the overlook of Wheeler Peak Glacier, Nevada’s only remaining glacier. Along the 4.8-mile (7.7 km) hike, the forest gives way to dramatic cirque scenery shaped by Ice Age glaciers.

The Lexington Arch Trail is one of the most overlooked adventures. In the park’s southern region, this moderate hike (5.6 miles/9 km) leads to a spectacular limestone arch nearly 200 feet tall. The rough access road and exposed trail require high-clearance vehicles and plenty of water.

Backcountry options are best found in the Baker Creek area, with routes to alpine lakes, mountain passes, and quiet campsites that see only a fraction of the visitors found in more famous Western parks. Register your trip at a visitor center before heading into the backcountry.

The best spots to see wildlife   

From sagebrush desert to alpine tundra, Great Basin spans an extraordinary range of habitats. Wildlife is abundant but less accustomed to people than in many national parks; so, tread quietly. 

With signature forked antlers, mule deer are common and often graze in herds in alpine meadows. Yellow-bellied marmots doze in the sun on granite boulders and have earned their own ‘Marmot Crossing” signs along Baker Creek. The Bristlecone and Alpine Lakes trails offer chances to spot Clark’s nutcrackers, mountain chickadees, and elusive pikas tucked into rocky talus slopes.

Lower in the park, the Lehman Creek Trail and nearby streams attract songbirds, wild turkeys, and the occasional beaver. Keep an eye on the cliffs for soaring golden eagles or prairie falcons, especially on warm afternoons. Great horned owls sound off at night, and the lack of light pollution means bats and kangaroo rats are crystal clear under a full moon.  

(Where to see wildlife migrations at U.S. national parks—by land, air, and sea.)

Expert recommendations and tips

“We have deep time here,” says Travis Mason Bushman, the park’s chief of interpretation, reflecting on the millennia-old trees and the caves that were formed when the land was closer to the equator, before a tectonic plate subducted and created the parallel mountain ranges and sunken valleys that fill Nevada. “People think desert, and we subvert expectations.”

Mason-Bushman says part of the thrill for visitors is how “human-scaled” the park is, both in terms of acreage and accessibility to even high-altitude sights. The Bristlecone Pine Grove and Alpine Lake Loop trails are favorites for a reason, but he urges visitors to remember their quick rise from the valley to altitude and take it slow with plenty of water. 

James Woolsey freely shares the park’s secret spots at the general store in the gateway town of Baker, which he runs with his wife, Elizabeth. The retired Great Basin National Park superintendent recommends areas like the Strawberry Creek trail system and the Serviceberry Trail. “The day hiking opportunities here are really phenomenal, especially for someone who is not a hardcore backpacker.” 

Ranger recommendation: Watch winter storms move through the canyon. Try to find a clear spot along the rim and wait for the clouds to break—this experience does take quite a bit of luck and timing. If you’re lucky and are gifted with a storm, the lower angle of the sun gives the horizon a sense of depth and contrast that has no equal. 

Things to do in Great Basin  

Beyond diverse hikes, eager visitors scramble for timed tickets to the two-mile-long Lehman Caves, the largest cave system in Nevada. Unlike most tour caves, this one is marble, formed by hot sulfur-rich waters rising from the earth somewhere between 2.5 and 10 million years ago. Take one of the park’s year-round tours and look for bat nurseries, stalactites, gravity-defying helictites, and candle soot graffiti from the 1880s. Advance reservations are strongly recommended during the summer. More strenuous wild-caving tours and permits for undeveloped caverns are available by reservation. 

Back above ground, wander through the park’s ancient Bristlecone Pine Grove, where some of the world's oldest treeshave weathered nearly 5,000 years of change. The park’s popular hike takes you to the largest stand of survivors, twisting with the wind on the high slopes to catch precious water before it sinks into the aquifers. 

As night falls, the park hosts some of the National Park Service’s premier astronomy programs. Rangers chat about various topics each evening, ranging from planets to ancient astronomical techniques.

Best things to do for families   

While the Lehman Caves are an otherworldly hit for all generations, the park also offers several trails for little legs. Strollers are welcome on the interpretive Sky Island Forest Trail (0.4 miles/0.6 km), a high-elevation accessible boardwalk. Lower on the mountain near the visitor center, the Mountain View Nature Trail (0.3 miles/0.4 km) wanders through a pinyon-juniper forest. For longer family walks, the Alpine Lakes Loop trail or a walk to the Bristlecone grove balances awe and effort for young hikers. 

For an unforgettable family adventure beyond the park, hop aboard the Nevada Northern Railway's Star Train in nearby Ely. As the historic train rolls towards the dark park, guides lead hands-on stargazing with powerful telescopes. It’s a magical blend of railroad history and astronomy and a memory kids will talk about long after the trip ends. 

(Why nighttime may be the best time to visit America’s national parks.)

Where to stay 

Lodges: Part of the park’s charm is its lack of development, but that means lodging is limited, so plan. Run by retired park employees, the Stargazer Inn is part of The Bristlecone General Store, the energetic community hub and only spot for supplies in the gateway town of Baker, population 41. Just outside the park entrance, the Lehman Lodge offers spacious rentals on a quiet, working ranch. Further south, Hidden Canyon Retreat has standard rooms and a heated pool. Additional hotel lodging is available an hour west in Ely. 

Campgrounds: Great Basin National Park has five developed campgrounds. Lower Lehman Creek welcomes winter campers as the park’s only campground open during the season, and visitors can reserve campsites for all campgrounds through Recreation.gov.

What else you should know 

Access: The park is 4 hours from Salt Lake City and 4.5 hours from Las Vegas. Access is off of Highway 50, “The Loneliest Road in America.” Services in the region are minimal–watch your gas gauge and be prepared for no cell signal en route. Entry is free for all visitors. 

Cell signal: At just 10 miles from the Utah border, cell signal bounces between two towers and skips from Mountain to Pacific time zones. Many visitors have shown up an hour too early–or too late–for tours and programs. The park runs on the Pacific Time; turn off automatic time updates. 

Are pets allowed: Pets are not allowed on any trail or in the backcountry, except at Lexington Arch, where they must be leashed. Pets are also not allowed in campgrounds. Trained service animals are welcome.

How accessible is the park? 

Visitor centers are all mobility accessible, as are several trails, including the Sky Island Forest Trail boardwalk. Each campground has at least one accessible site reserved for those with disabilities. 

Great Basin has self-guided auto and walking tours on the National Park Service App to enhance the experience, as well as alternative brochures for those with vision impairments. Assisted listening devices are available for the cave tours and at the Astronomy Amphitheater programming.