Great Basin National Park

Park Information

• Date Established: October 27, 1986
• Location: Nevada
• Area: 77,180 acres

Overview

Great Basin National Park has tens of thousands of visitors each year despite its remote location in Nevada. The park is hours away from the larger cities and tourist attractions in Las Vegas and surrounding areas. Despite the distance, visitors are drawn to the park to see a large cave with unique formations, trees estimated to be nearly five thousand years old, and views of the night sky without modern light pollution. The park offers cave tours, hiking, climbing, camping, and other outdoor activities, along with ranger-led astronomy programs throughout the warmer months.

Located in the eastern portion of central Nevada close to its border with Utah, Great Basin National Park sits in an area between the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Nevada and the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. The park includes Wheeler Peak, which at 13,063 feet is the second-tallest mountain in Nevada. The park also includes a glacier, a remnant of the giant ice-age formations that shaped the nearby mountains. Great Basin National Park is also home to many bristlecone pines, which are thought to be the oldest trees on Earth. It is among America’s youngest and least visited national parks, with an estimated eighty thousand visitors annually.

History

Great Basin National Park takes its name from the Great Basin area, which is framed by the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch Mountains and from the lower portion of Oregon through much of Nevada and the western portion of Utah. A basin is an alternative geographic term for a valley, or low area between mountains. The Great Basin includes about ninety basins and many rivers, none of which leads to any ocean or sea. The area was named by John C. Fremont, an American explorer who spent much time exploring the western part of the country and documented his discovery of the Great Basin area in his reports.

Fremont named the Great Basin area in the 1880s, around the same time that a rancher discovered a large cave formation in the area. The cave discovery is credited to Absalom Lehman and is said to have happened in April 1885. Lehman moved the location of his ranch closer to the entrance to the cave with the intent of developing the area, but he died before realizing his dreams. The cave became a national monument on January 24, 1922. When the US Congress passed an act creating Great Basin National Park on October 27, 1986, the cave became part of the park.

The historical significance of the area was reinforced in 2014 when a well-worn representation of “the Gun that Won the West” was found leaning against a juniper tree in a remote area of the park. The 132-year-old Winchester lever-action rifle still had a legible serial number when it was found by park employees. Records traced from the serial number indicate the rifle was shipped in 1882 but did not reveal the owner. The presence of the iconic firearm was seen as a reminder of the time when the area of the park meant more to people than recreation.

Geology and Ecology

The Lehman Caves draw the largest crowds to the park. Tourists with reservations can tour the expansive 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) system of an underground passage, which is actually just one of more than forty caves found in the park. The cave system has many interesting formations, including more than three hundred of the relatively rare shield formations. Shields are thought to form when water pushes through cracks in limestone, like that found in Great Basin. The water carries minerals such as calcite with it and forms thin hard threads that trail down with spaces between them. The final formation resembles a shield shape.

The park also encompasses many rugged above-ground structures fit for hiking, exploring, and camping. Chief among these is Wheeler Peak, Nevada’s second-tallest mountain. A trail up the mountain leads to the only glacier left in the area and scattered stands of bristlecone pines. These trees are found in small groupings, or stands, in various areas at high elevations in harsh climates. The slow-growing trees have extensive root systems that support the portion of the tree directly above. If the roots die, the portion of the tree above also dies, but the rest continues to grow, giving the tree a sparse, twisted appearance. Great Basin National Park has several bristlecone groves, including those at Wheeler Peak, Mount Washington, and Eagle Peak.

These trees have been identified as the oldest trees on Earth, and much of the work to determine this was done in Great Basin National Park. Geographer Donald R. Currey researched the glacial history of the park in the 1960s and used a tree borer to remove core samples from a number of trees. These samples and others taken in subsequent years revealed trees in excess of five thousand years old living in the area.

Other features of the park include woodland trails populated with regional wildlife and many areas with views of the nearby deserts and brush-covered plains that border the mountains. The climate of the park is varied because of the elevation changes between the foothills and the mountainsides and peaks. The lower parts of the park are at about 6,000 feet (1,828 meters) above sea level, resulting in warmer, drier areas. Mountain peaks reach more than 7,000 feet (2,133 meters) higher, producing areas with lower temperatures and more moisture. Parts of the park are frequently covered in snow.

One of the most popular features of Great Basin National Park is not on the ground but in the sky. The park’s distance from large cities such as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Salt Lake City, Utah, means there is not much man-made light filling the night sky. This means there are clearer skies without light pollution that interferes with stargazing. Many people visit Great Basin National Park to camp and enjoy the night skies, or to take part in ranger-led astronomy programs that are not possible in other areas.

Bibliography

“A Day in the Park: Great Basin National Park.” National Parks Traveler, 10 July 2018, www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2018/07/day-park-great-basin-national-park. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

“Great Basin National Park.” American Southwest, www.americansouthwest.net/nevada/great‗basin/national‗park.html. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

“Great Basin National Park.” National Parks Foundation, www.nationalparks.org/explore-parks/great-basin-national-park. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

“Great Basin National Park Nevada.” National Park Service, www.nps.gov/grba/index.htm. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

Jones, Jay. “Nevada’s Great Basin National Park Unfurls Rugged Vistas in the Daytime, Expansive Sky at Night.” Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2018, www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-escape-great-basin-201800603-story.html. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

“132-Year-Old Winchester Rifle Found at Great Basin National Park Now on Display.” National Parks Traveler, 6 July 2015, www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2015/07/132-year-old-winchester-rifle-found-great-basin-national-park-now-display. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

“Some of the World’s Oldest Trees Live in This Park.” National Geographic, 1 June 2022, www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/great-basin-national-park/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.