While I’m not on a quest to visit every National Park, I do like to check them out when I can, especially if they are within driving distance of where I live! I have spent so much time exploring Utah’s National Monuments and Parks, so it was nice to check out this Nevada National Park.

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Things to Do in Great Basin National Park

At just under 80,000 acres, it is one of the smaller national parks, which makes it easy to visit Great Basin National Park in one day. Aside from cruising the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive and enjoying the scenic overlooks, there are three main things to see in Great Basin National Park.

• Lehman Caves Tour
• Hiking
• Dark Sky Viewing

If I have one piece of advice for visiting Great Basin National Park, it’s to book your cave tour in the morning and plan on hiking after. I did it the opposite and missed out on more hiking time because I felt rushed to get to the cave tour. It didn’t help that the park is on the time zone border, and I wasn’t wearing a watch, so I wasn’t quite sure what time zone my phone was in. Turns, out, I had an extra hour, but I didn’t want to miss out on the cave tour.

Great Basin National Park Hikes

I really enjoyed hiking at Great Basin National Park, and the beautiful alpine scenery was so beautiful! Not what I expected to see in Nevada! I would love to return and do some longer hikes! To reach any of these hikes, follow the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive to the end and you’ll find a large parking and picnic area with restrooms and water. The elevation at the trailhead is just under 10,000 feet so be prepared for cooler temperatures and less oxygen! Read my tips for visiting high altitude destinations.

• Alpine Lakes Loop is where I took most of these photos; it’s a beautiful and fairly easy hike at 2.7 miles round-trip. You pass several alpine lakes along the way. This would be a great hike to bring a picnic and a book to relax by one of the lakes.
• The Bristlecone Grove Trail is 2.8 miles round-trip, however, it’s just a 0.7-mile spur off the Alpine Lakes Loop. Seems like a no-brainer to do both, right? This is where my time zone issues got to me and I didn’t get to see the bristlecone pines…the top thing to see in Great Basin National Park and I missed it!
• From the same trailhead, you can summit Wheeler Peak, which is just over 13,000 feet in elevation, and an 8.4-mile round-trip hike. There’s also a shorter hike to a glacier at the base of the peak.

Lehman Caves Tours

Another big attraction of the park are the Lehman Cave tours. This is the longest cave system in Nevada. In the summer, there are two tour options and in the winter, there is one tour option. The tours open up for purchase 30 days in advance, and many of the tour times do sell out. I ordered my ticket about 3 weeks in advance. I chose the Grand Palace Tour, which is 90 minutes.

Dark Skies at Great Basin

Great Basin is recognized as an International Dark Sky Park, which is not surprising given the remote location. Unfortunately, during my visit we had cloudy skies and thunderstorms at night. I love thunderstorms, too, so I wasn’t super bummed. On my way back to Utah, I got to meet up with a friend at Bryce Canyon for a telescope tour, so it all worked out!

Each year, the National Park Service hosts the Great Basin Astronomy Festival in early September. This is a popular event and things book up quickly, so plan ahead! They run shuttles at night from the town of Baker to the Lehman Caves visitor center for telescope viewing, guest speakers, and observatory tours.

The Great Basin Star Train is something I really wanted to do. I missed out two years in a row because tickets get snapped up immediately. I think they go on sale in August for the following year. I’m definitely keeping my eye on this and making the trip back if I can ever get tickets!

Best Time to Visit Great Basin National Park

Great Basin is primarily a summer park, although the Lehman Caves Visitor Center and Cave Tours are open year-round. I visited in July, which seemed like a great time to visit Great Basin. The days were warm, with cool nights. In winter, the scenic drive is closed and it’s a bit of a ghost town. April through October is the best time to visit Great Basin National Park.

Where to Eat Near Great Basin National Park

There are a few restaurants in the tiny town of Baker. I had a great pizza at Sugar, Salt & Malt. The Great Basin Cafe & Gift Shop also has good food for an excellent price. (Of course, I’m used to Park City restaurants’ pricing!) I had a very filling breakfast for under $10, and their ice cream and milkshakes seemed very popular!

Where to Stay Near Great Basin National Park

Since I was traveling with Bailey, I had to find dog-friendly lodging near Great Basin National Park. She couldn’t go on the hiking trails or cave tour, so I also needed an air-conditioned place to leave her during the day. The nearest chain hotels are in Ely, just over one hour away. So, pickings are slim, but I found a great little resort near the town of Baker, with very affordable cabins.

Hidden Canyon Retreat truly is a retreat in a hidden canyon! I rented a small camping cabin for $75/night, plus an additional $25 pet fee. There are three camping cabins that share a nearby bathroom and shower house. They also have regular lodge rooms around a cute little courtyard. I loved having the swimming pool to relax by for a few hours before hitting the road back to Salt Lake City. The resort is about 15 minutes from Baker and 30 minutes from Great Basin National Park.

Getting to Great Basin National Park

As you might have guessed, Great Basin is a very remote National Park. Of course, that’s part of what makes it so special! In 2022, this park had just over 142,000 visitors. (Zion National Park can see this many visitors in a busy week!) Great Basin is not really on the way to anything, so you really have to want to visit to end up there! And you have to drive, there’s no public transportation out this way.

• Salt Lake City to Great Basin is 234 miles or about 3 /12 hours
• Las Vegas to Great Basin is 300 miles or 4 1/2 hours
• Reno to Great Basin is 400 miles and about 6 hours.

It’s about 3 hours from Baker to the nearest interstate. All the roads are paved, but you’ll mostly be on two-lane roads, which tend to have lower speed limits. If you’re willing to brave the long drive to Great Basin, you’ll be rewarded with an uncrowded National Park, which is hard to find in Utah!

Other Things to See Near Great Basin National Park

Someday, when I have more time, I would love to visit Ely and spend some time exploring White Pine County. There are lakes, historic sites, and tons of OHV trails.