Great Basin National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

QUICKLINKS:

Welcome to Great Basin National Park

In the shadow of 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak, 5,000 year old bristlecone pine trees grow on rocky glacial moraines. Come to Great Basin National Park to experience the solitude of the desert, the smell of sagebrush after a thunderstorm, the darkest of night skies, and the beauty of Lehman Caves. Far from a wasteland, the Great Basin is a diverse region that awaits your discovery.

From the peaks in Great Basin National Park, one can see range after range fading into the distance.

What Is The Great Basin?

Shrouded in myth and mystery since its discovery by Europeans over 150 years ago, the Great Basin is still misunderstood today. Called dead, barren, and desolate, visitors are surprised to find it alive, fruitful, and full of wonders. Great Basin National Park preserves a small representative piece of this larger region, whose boundaries can be defined three different ways.
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The Milky Way stands out in Great basin's dark night skies.

Turn Out The Lights

Two-thirds of Americans cannot see the Milky Way from their backyards, and nearly all live in places with measurable light pollution. But because of its remote location, Great Basin National Park provides exceptional visibility of the night sky. In fact, in 2005 the National Park Service Night Sky Team found Great Basin to be one of the darkest places in the country.
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Changes To Superintendent's Compendium

The Superintendent's Compendium for Great Basin was updated in 2008 with changes that will affect some visitor activities, such as generator use hours in campgrounds, backcountry group size restrictions, and vehicle size restrictions on the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. These new regulations are effective immediately.
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The central exhibit of the new Great Basin Visitor Center will be a life-size model of a bristlecone pine tree. A computer kiosk will link to current reports on park restoration and research projects.

New Exhibits at the Great Basin Visitor Center

Park staff and contract exhibit designers are hard at work finalizing the designs for exhibits for the new Great Basin Visitor Center in Baker, Nevada. Rich in color, texture, and interactive features, these exhibits will orient visitors to the entire Great Basin region and showcase the diversity of our natural and culltural resources. To learn how you can help with this project, visit the Great Basin National Park Foundation website : www.greatbasinfoundation.org.

Write to

Great Basin National Park
100 Great Basin National Park
Baker, Nevada 89311

E-mail Us

Phone

Park Headquarters
(775) 234-7331

Lehman Caves Advance Ticket Sales
(775) 234-7331 ext. 242

Fax

(775) 234-7269

Climate

There is almost an 8,000 foot (2,400 m) difference in elevation between Wheeler Peak and the valley floor. Weather conditions in the park vary with elevation. In late spring and early summer, days in the valley may be hot, yet the snowpack may not have melted at high elevations. The Great Basin is a desert, with low relative humidity and sharp drops in temperature at night. In the summer fierce afternoon thunderstorms are common. Weather conditions are highly variable. Please come prepared for all types of weather. It can snow any time of the year at high elevations.
For current weather conditions, click "more."
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