Great Basin National Park

Year Established: 1986
Annual Visitors: 145,000
Size: 77,180 Acres
State: Nevada

Best Time to Visit Great Basin National Park

April to October

If you are planning to visit more national parks, check out our complete list of all US National Parks.

Best Experiences in Great Basin National Park

• Bristlecone Trail
• Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive
• Lehman Caves

A Brief History

Some of the twisted-looking bristlecone pines that grow here are as old as 5,000 years (at the same time the Babylonians were building their empire in the ancient Near East).

These old trees live in a remote part of the state that is known for not having a lot of light pollution. It is perfect for stargazing, which is why the Great Basin Astronomy Festival is held there every year.

Under the dry surface are the Lehman Caves, which are made of limestone and have a lot of underground passages and strange rock formations like helictite, popcorn, and shields.

Strange creatures that live in the dark, like the eyeless shrimp, and Townsend’s big-eared bats live in this area. During the breeding season, the bats build large maternity roosts with hundreds of nests.

Great Basin RV Camping

If you are looking for nearby RV camping options for Great Basin National Park or in Nevada, consider checking out our other post:

• Best RV Parks in Nevada
• Best RV Resorts in Nevada

Visitor Information

Fees

Great Basin National Park has no entrance fee.

There is a fee charged per person for the cave tours and camping. Annual passes will not cover the cave tours.

Contacting Great Basin National Park

Lehman Caves Visitor Center

The Visitor Center is in the park, at the end of the road that leads to the main entrance. This is where all cave tours start and where most programs are held. This Visitor Center has a staff-run information desk, a movie about the park, an exhibit hall, a place to sign up for a cave tour, a Western National Parks Association Park store, and the Great Basin Cafe.

This visitor center has shows about caves and the night sky. Darkness is a very important resource at Great Basin National Park, so the exhibits at this visitor center look at the different kinds of darkness that can be found there.

Great Basin Visitor Center

This Visitor Center is outside the park, north of Baker, Nevada. It gives many people their first taste of the Great Basin. This Visitor Center has a staff-run information desk, a park movie, an exhibit hall, a Western National Parks Association Park store, and a water fountain.

This visitor center has displays about the Great Basin and the treasures that can be found there. The Great Basin has many different types of land and life zones. From high mountains to low valleys, the Great Basin has a lot of different places for animals and plants to live. At the life zone exhibit, you can learn more about these places.

The great basin bristlecone pine tree lives high up in the mountains. Not everyone has time to hike up to the grove. At the visitor center, there is a model tree and a piece of the Prometheus tree, which is 4,862 years old.

People have lived in the Great Basin for a long time, so there is a lot of history there, including the Forgotten Winchester rifle.