Predominantly unknown, Great Basin National Park is actually quite interesting. Situated within the Great Basin of the US, an area where rivers don’t flow to the sea but rather collect in shallow lakes or evaporate, the national park offers a variety of habitats and landscapes. From the sagebrush-covered desert to the high peaks of the South Snake Mountain Range, you can easily spend several days here hiking, camping, and enjoying the desolation of the park. Here are 5 amazing things to do in Great Basin National Park.
5 Amazing Things to do in Great Basin National Park
See the bristlecone pines
One of the amazing things to do at Great Basin National Park is to see the bristlecone pines. The easiest way to see them is to take the 2.8 mile moderate Bristlecone Pine Trail out of the Wheeler campground. This trail will take you to a beautiful grove of ancient bristlecone pines, some over 3,000 years old. In fact, the bristlecone pines are the oldest living things on the earth. We loved hiking among these amazing trees pondering the fact that some of them were as ancient as the Parthenon. I especially enjoyed their gnarled trunks and branches. It was funny to think that on this 7 week summer trip we have hiked along the tallest trees and now the oldest trees. Wonderful!
Witness the changing scenery as you hike the Lehman Creek Trail
Truthfully, we didn’t actually intend to hike the Lehman Creek Trail. It’s a longer and quite a difficult trail with over 2,000 feet in elevation gain. However, the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive was closed north of Upper Lehman Campground and we needed to get to Wheeler Campground to connect to the Bristlecone Pine Trail. And so, we had no choice but to hike the Lehman Creek Trail. Overall, it was a pleasant 6.8 mile round trip through pinion juniper and aspen forests along Lehman Creek. Eventually, we reached an alpine meadow with dramatic views of Wheeler Peak.
We started hiking at 6:30 am to avoid the 90 degree heat, which was certainly a good decision. Even though the trail was mostly in the shade, it was nice to be back at our campground around 1 pm.
Admire Wheeler Peak
Whealer Peak is certainly an impressive peak. It’s actually surprising that it is 13,063 feet high since it is essentially in the desert. What’s more, there are 13 peaks in the South Snake Mountain Range that reach 11,000 feet. Drive up the Scenic Road and you will enjoy nice views.
See an Alpine Lake
Even though we didn’t do the Alpine Lakes Loop, we did hike to see Teresa Lake, the subalpine lake with pretty views of the South Snake Range peaks. If you hike the Bristlecone Trail, you will see a trail marker about 0.7 mile into the hike with a brief 0.1 mile detour to see Teresa Lake. It’s definitely worth taking the extra steps to see it. Since we were hiking in July, the lake was pretty shallow. Nonetheless, we still enjoyed its alpine beauty.
Walk the Mountain View Nature Trail
This is an easy walk right from the visitor center among pinyon- juniper trees. You can get a good view of Jeff Davis Peak from here but Wheeler Peak is mostly obscured.
Want to Do More than the 5 Amazing Things Listed Above? See Lehman Caves
Since we were here during the Coronavirus pandemic, Lehman Caves were closed to visitors. Fortunately, after seeing Carlsbad Caverns the previous December, we had an idea of what Lehman Caves were about. We were excited to see lots of bats flying at night, though. We didn’t see any bats in December.
Finally, the stars here were beautiful and plentiful. We camped at Upper Lehman Campground for 3 days and totally enjoyed it. It’s a fairly small campground, so plan accordingly if you go during a busy season.
