Great Basin National Park
Driving to Great Basin National Park felt like chasing something that kept moving farther away the closer we got. This is one of the most remote National Parks in the lower 48 states, tucked into the isolated desert and mountain ranges of eastern Nevada. I remember the endless highways stretching across the Nevada desert, mile after mile of open road with very little around us. The roads seemed almost endless.
That remoteness becomes part of the experience of Great Basin. Unlike parks crowded with traffic and tourist centers, this landscape is quiet, isolated and immense. The vast desert valleys are framed by mountain ranges rising from the dry basin floor.
This park preserves an incredible variety of landscapes. Deep within the mountains lies Lehman Caves, a limestone cave system filled with delicate formations. Great Basin is also home to ancient bristlecone pine trees, some of the oldest living organisms on Earth.
Standing high above the valleys, looking across the winding roads and mountain ridges, you realize how enormous and empty part of the American West remains. There is very little development and very little noise.
Great Basin National Park became part of the National Park System in 1986 when Congress redesignated the former Lehman Caves National Monument as a national park.
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