Nevada’s Only Glacier Hides Within This Not-So-Popular National Park

Great Basin National Park

Skip the Vegas lights and head to Nevada’s other star show. Great Basin National Park is home to some of America’s clearest night skies, the oldest living things on Earth (bristlecone pines), and Wheeler Peak’s rocky summit.

The crowds haven’t caught on yet, which is exactly why you should go now.

It’s made up of mini basins

Despite its name, the Great Basin isn’t just one big bowl but actually contains at least 90 smaller basins with mountain ranges running between them.

This wavy landscape of valleys and mountains covers Nevada and parts of four other states: Oregon, Utah, California, and Idaho.

What makes the Great Basin special is that no water flows out to the ocean—it all either evaporates, sinks into the ground, or collects in shallow salt lakes.

The incredible Lehman Caves

Lehman Caves has over 300 rare cave shields, way more than any other cave in the world. These unusual formations start as two flat plates of calcite with a tiny crack between them.

The cave system stretches for two miles underground and stays at 50°F (10°C) with 90% humidity all year, no matter what the weather’s like outside.

In 2025, you need to book this tour ahead of time through Recreation.gov.

Nevada’s Last Glacier Is Melting Away

Under Wheeler Peak sits Nevada’s only glacier, still hanging on despite the state’s desert reputation.

Scientists call it an ‘alpine rock glacier’ covering about 120,000 square feet, with most of it hidden under rocks. This glacier dates back to the Holocene period, roughly 10,000 years ago, making it a true ice-age leftover.

As of 2020, this small ice mass measured just 2.1 acres, much smaller than it used to be. It sits at about 11,500 feet in a rocky bowl that keeps it shaded from the sun.

You can hike to see it on a 4.8-mile round-trip trail with 1,040 feet of climbing. The trail starts at the Bristlecone Trailhead at the end of Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive.

Someone Cut Down the World’s Oldest Tree

In 1964, a graduate student got permission to take a core sample when his tool broke inside what turned out to be the world’s oldest living tree.

That ancient bristlecone pine was at least 5,000 years old, making it the oldest non-cloned living thing ever found. The tree started growing around 3000 BCE, during early Egyptian times, even before they built the pyramids.

You can still see similar ancient trees on the Bristlecone Trail that starts at Wheeler Peak Campground.

Drive Through Five Ecosystems in 12 Miles

The height differences in Great Basin National Park create amazing variety in a small area. The difference between the highest and lowest trails is 6,235 feet—more than a mile straight up.

Wheeler Peak stands at 13,063 feet above sea level, while the Mountain View Nature Trail sits at just 6,825 feet.

When you drive the 12-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, you climb 4,000 feet and pass through as many different environments as if you’d driven from Nevada to Canada.

The road reaches 10,500 feet, making it one of the highest drives in any national park. It’s paved but steep with an 8% grade, and they don’t allow vehicles longer than 24 feet past Upper Lehman Creek Campground because of the tight turns.

Great Basin Has Some of the Darkest Skies in the US

When it comes to dark skies, Great Basin ranks among the best places on Earth. It has a Bortle scale rating of 1-1.5, which is as dark as it gets.

In 2016, the International Dark Sky Association named it an International Dark Sky Park because of how well they protect and showcase their night skies.

Every September, they host an Astronomy Festival with stargazing, photo workshops, and educational programs.

The 16th Annual Astronomy Festival is set for September 18-20, 2025. The park has a special Astronomy Amphitheater near Lehman Caves Visitor Center, built with red lights that don’t ruin your night vision.

A Massacre Site Sits Just Outside the Park

Near Great Basin National Park is a place with a tragic history that often gets overlooked.

The Swamp Cedars in nearby Spring Valley is an important cultural site for both Goshute and Western Shoshone (Newe) people, who used it as a traditional meeting place.

This spot was also where several conflicts happened in the 1800s between white settlers and Native Americans, including massacres that helped push indigenous people off their land.

You can still see traces of these early inhabitants at the Baker Archaeological Site and in Upper Pictograph Cave inside the park.

It’s free admission all year long

Unlike most big national parks, Great Basin doesn’t charge an entrance fee as of 2025. This makes it one of the few major national parks that’s completely free to enter.

You’ll need to pay for cave tours and camping, but you can hike the trails, drive the scenic roads, and visit the centers without spending a dime.

Cave tours cost $8-15 for adults and $4-8 for youth as of 2025, with discounts if you have a Senior Pass. Being located about 290 miles north of Las Vegas or 234 miles from Salt Lake City helps keep the crowds small.

Witness bats in their natural habitat

At least ten types of insect-eating bats live in or near Great Basin National Park, including Townsend’s big-eared bats, which have a nursery colony inside Lehman Caves.

One bat can eat thousands of insects each night, helping control pests throughout the region. Studies show that human noise, including talking and electronic devices, can mess up bats’ echo-location systems that work at frequencies between 20-200 kHz.

That’s why certain parts of Lehman Caves have quiet zones where visitors must stay silent to avoid disrupting bat navigation.

The park has strict rules about cleaning any clothing or equipment that’s been in other caves before entering Lehman Caves to prevent white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has killed millions of bats across North America since 2006.

Visiting Great Basin National Park

Great Basin National Park sits near Baker, Nevada, about 290 miles north of Las Vegas and 234 miles from Salt Lake City.

The park stays open 24 hours every day for stargazing and hiking. Book cave tours ahead on Recreation.gov.

Visit between June and September when everything’s open. Winter brings heavy snow above 8,000 feet, limiting access to higher areas.