By Rachel Puryear

Far out in the remote Nevada desert, a short distance off America’s Loneliest Highway, is an awesome natural wonder – the Great Basin. Great Basin National Park offers stunning views of the Great Basin, as well as some amazing caves! Plus, it’s an International Dark Sky Park, meaning that the nighttime offers as much to experience as the daytime.

Lehman Caves Tours

The Lehman Caves at Great Basin National Park are a must-see – however, making reservations is a great idea, as space is limited. Make your reservations here. If you can’t make a reservation though, there is still some hope – just get to the Lehman Caves Visitor’s Center by 7:30 am to wait in line for tickets, and you’ll stand a great chance of getting them (we got our tickets that way).

Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive

Take a drive along this beautiful road, and enjoy sweeping views of the Great Basin. Plus, take hikes and enjoy the bristlecone pine forests – these are ancient trees! Also, get closer-up views of Wheeler Peak.

Note that due to the steep curves of this road, vehicles longer than 24 feet (7.4 meters) are prohibited. The road also goes up to a bit over 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) in elevation. Some people develop altitude sickness at this level, so please watch out for symptoms of such. Additionally, this high of an elevation and climate is subject to snowing at any time of year.

After Dark

The state of Nevada is known for its flashing neon lights at night – those can be fun, but there’s something else lighting up its skies at night that will speak deeply to your soul.

The remote location of Great Basin, and its distance from major cities, allows for brilliant night sky views! Great views of stars, planets, the Milky Way, and many other celestial bodies are easy to see and enjoy every night in Great Basin. You can see the night sky that our ancestors watched and revered.

See here for more about visiting Great Basin National Park.

Also, as a tip, check out the Stargazer Inn and General Store in the town of Baker, Nevada, just a few minutes from the park’s Visitor’s Centers. It’s a comfortable place to stay if you’re looking for a room – but even if you’re in a van or RV, they have a great grocery store with lots of healthy, fresh, organic choices; plus a coffee bar and cafe. And it’s run by lovely people – while we shopped there, they were hosting a drum circle group from Salt Lake City (drumcircle_utah on Instagram), which was really fun to join!

There’s also a big gas station across the street from the Stargazer Inn, with bathrooms and paid showers available, and RV/van parking for the night (not sure what they charge for that though).

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Check out my other blog, too – World Class Hugs, at https://worldclasshugs.com.

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Remote Income Road Trips Uncategorized Van RV life Wealth hiking national-parks nature nevada travel