Great Basin National Park - Scenic Drive

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Great Basin National Park > Scenic Drive

Aspen woodland, near the end of the scenic drive

A 12 mile paved road branches from the main approach shortly before the Great Basin National Park visitor center, and climbs into the mountains alongside Lehman Creek, a year-round stream that flows into the wide, flat Snake Valley east of the park, where its waters evaporate. For a while the road is fairly straight as it ascends slowly, past two of the three campsites in the park. After 3 miles the route becomes narrower, steeper and more winding for quite a dramatic drive up and over ridges, past rocky cliffs and around the end of several deep valleys, ending at a small flat area near the creek at 9,886 feet, the location of the third campsite.

Hiking: Several trails leave from this point, including a 5 mile path that climbs to the top of Wheeler Peak at 13,063 feet, and the 6 mile loop trail which leads close to the base of the small glacier that lies in a sheltered ravine just below the north face of the summit. This is the last remnant of extensive glaciation that covered most of the Snake Range during the last Ice Age around 10,000 years ago. For those not keen on these rather strenuous hikes, just a short walk into the surrounding woodland is rewarding enough - all around lies unspoilt pine and cedar woodland with colorful, orderly rows of trees, gushing mountain streams with crystal clear water, patches of snow that persist throughout spring and summer, and a general air of solitude and stillness.