We Went to Great Basin National Park and Barely Saw Any of It

By: Rachel McCullough

“Did you go in the caves?”
No, they were closed for improvements.

“Did you climb Wheeler Peak?”
Also no.

“Drive up to the overlook?”
Road closed due to snow.

“See the bristlecone pines?”
Still nope.

At this point, people usually pause for a while they try to figure out what exactly we did in Great Basin National Park.

Which is fair.

But we didn’t have an itinerary or campgrounds lined up, much less a list of what to do and when or knowledge of closures. And there lies the beauty. 

Luckily, Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada and the long drive there on Highway 50 turned out to be the perfect destination for two people who were doing well just to get packed and out the door, never mind making actual plans beyond, “Have you been there before?” “Nope, me neither.”

Although my trip with Loren to Death Valley National Park to ski sand dunes and look through telescopes involved slightly more intention, we still winged a lot of it, so we figured this trip would work out too.

And it did! Here’s a photo tour of the highlights:

The valleys and mountains of the drive along Highway 50.

We camped along the way at the Hickison Petroglyphs Recreation Area, which appeared just as we were ready to stop for the night.

The views just wouldn’t stop. This is less than a mile from our campsite.

Approaching Great Basin National Park from Baker, NV at sunset.

We windproofed our hide-from-the-snow-while-we-cook pop up tent. Sorry, no photos of us getting nailed by a sideways snow squall.

We were spared rattlesnake sightings and the lake as a destination due to the snow and cold.

The hiking was all uphill which was nice for keeping warm in the relentless wind. There was some ice!

We saw more turkeys than people.

Pretty meadows and snowy mountains.

PC: Loren Geller

One especially creepy forest was recovering from a 2016 wildfire, but there were still downed trees everywhere, and burned standing trees creaked and swayed in the strong wind, as if they might come crashing down at any moment. So we turned around early!

All you get is a selfie since no one was around.

One last look back before we left.

The train museum in Ely, NV was cool too!

Somehow it all worked out.

We never made it into the caves.

We never saw the bristlecone pines.

We never drove the scenic road.

And we still ended up loving Great Basin National Park.

Maybe because without the big well-known things, it made us pay attention to everything else: the silence, the cold, the strange mix of desert and mountains, the “scary” burnt forest creaking in the wind, the petroglyphs, the loneliness of Highway 50, and the feeling of having an enormous landscape mostly to ourselves.

Not every national park trip needs to be a greatest-hits tour.

In my book, it’s more than enough to just get out there.

Gear highlights:

• Jackery and solar panel
• OR sun gloves
• OR sun sleeves
• TMS hat
• TMS t shirt
• Goodr sunglasses
• Camelbak bladder