Great Basin National Park

Lehman Caves

Cave shields, rare formations that jut from the walls like small shields, set this two-mile underground system apart, with over 500 of them. Visitors can enter only on a ranger-guided tour, and rare speleothems such as welts and turnip stalactites add to the variety. Water seeping into limestone, carrying weak carbonic acid, dissolved pockets in the bedrock to form it. Absalom Lehman, a rancher, began guiding visitors into the cave in the late 1800s, and tours start at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center, which has cave exhibits. Bacteria are the most common cave life, and crickets, spiders and springtails may complete their life cycles there. The Wild Cave Tour leaves the paved route for groups of up to eight, with crawling and climbing. The Gypsum Annex differs sharply from the main cave.

Wheeler Peak

The summit at 13,063 feet is the second-highest point in Nevada and the tallest peak whose slopes lie wholly within the state. The summit hike is a demanding, rocky climb of nearly nine miles round trip, and clear weather opens views past 100 miles. The Scenic Drive, a road of tight bends about twelve miles long, climbs to 10,000 feet past campgrounds and the Mather Overlook. The Alpine Lakes Trail reaches Stella and Teresa Lakes, and the Glacier & Bristlecone Trail leads to Nevada's only glacier. The Bristlecone Trail winds among ancient bristlecone pines, some of the longest-lived trees known. Afternoon storms build in summer, snow can fall any month, and altitude affects even people from high country. Wildflowers line the drive in summer, with Golden Peas, Paintbrush, and Penstemon taking over from earlier blooms.

Baker Creek

Reached by a 3.5 mile dirt and gravel road off Highway 488, this quieter area stays reachable late into the year and offers short loops and overnight backcountry trips. The Baker Creek Loop is a 3.3 mile forested route through conifers and meadows, known for wildflowers that shift from arrowleaf balsamroot in late May to sego lilies and paintbrush in summer. The Baker & Johnson Lakes Loop, about 12 miles long, is the most popular backcountry route, passing mountain lakes and glacial cirques. Baker Lake, one of the park's largest mountain lakes, sits in a cirque with snow often on its banks. Anglers can fish for brown trout in Baker Creek near the Pole Canyon Trailhead, and Timber Creek Loop offers 5.1 miles of meadows and woodland. Baker Creek Campground is first-come, first-served, suiting spontaneous travelers.

Snake Creek

Trails starting at the end of this dirt road see some of the least foot traffic in the park, so solitude comes easily here. Snake Creek Road runs along the southeastern side of the park, and twelve primitive campsites are spaced along its length. Several are walk-in sites, tucked among aspen groves at the base of limestone cliffs. The Snake Creek Overlook Trail is a short 1.1-mile hike with modest elevation gain and sweeping views of the valley below, and spring brings wildflowers of many colors to the route. The longer Johnson Lake Trail leads about 8 miles round trip to an isolated backcountry lake, and the Shoshone ADA Trail ends at a wooden platform and fishing spot on the creek.

Strawberry Creek

The 2016 Strawberry Fire burned more than 4,700 acres through this canyon, and restoration work continues on the recovering hillsides. Hikers can take the Sage Steppe Loop, an easy 1.1-mile circuit through meadows set between two groups of peaks, or tackle the Upper Strawberry Trail, a 4.0-mile route that climbs to a mountain saddle with moderate to strenuous effort. Spring-fed and snowmelt-fed water runs alongside that climb. Wildflowers fill the meadows in spring, and fall brings a range of color to the slopes. Elk are a good bet during the fall rut, and Bonneville cutthroat trout restoration is underway in the creek. Strawberry Creek Road, reached from Highway 50, is paved at first and then mostly gravel and dirt, and the Osceola Ditch Trail can be reached from its far end.

Lexington Creek

Lexington Arch rises above Lexington Canyon, and because most natural arches in the western United States are sandstone, its limestone makeup sets it apart. That composition has led some to suspect it may once have been a passage in an ancient cave system. The arch sits in a remote, quiet corner of the park, reached by a 5.6-mile round-trip hike across shrubland and patches of older forest. Dogs are welcome on this trail, which makes it the only one in the park that allows them. Lexington Creek Road is unimproved dirt that requires a high-clearance vehicle and ideally four-wheel drive. A past wildfire scorched the hillsides and washed out the road, so drivers park a half to a mile short and walk the rest. The 20.6-mile Big Wash Trail offers a longer, more demanding alternative.