In this map you will find the most accessible and easiest way to get to the Great Basin National Park depending from where is your starting point. It also shows which highways go by the park. It also illustrates the surrounding area near the Great Basin National Park. Within an isolated area of the north-central Great Basin Desert, the Great Basin National Park ranges 120 square miles or 77,100 acres including the South Snake Range, considering a superb metamorphic core complex. The Cambrian and Pennsylvanian age spans Park representations at a distance at least 14,000 feet of marine sedimentary rocks.

View Larger Map

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words….

But, videos are a hundred times better. Pictures capture the moment. The smiles, scowls, smirks, laughter and the colors of the event. On the other hand, videos record and preserve the memory better. Caught on tape as they say. The smiles, the motion, the sound and the words.

It doesn’t matter if the video is amateur or professionally taken. Long as it is all clear and you have recorded the moment. You can take a video in a simple get together, at a party, but most of all in a special place. On top of a mountain, along the fine sands of the beach, or even at a skating rink. But best of all in Great Basin National Park.

While Travelling

You can take a video while traveling in car, or even when you are about to arrive at the place. The park provides a lot of attraction. It is not desolate as it is thought to be, but instead, it is a place that is flexible to outdoor activities wherein you can have fun and learn.

Watching Wildlife

Put out your video camera while bird watching or searching for wildlife. Store the memory of seeing a rare fish or animal along the road. You can even create your own ‘spoof’ or joke around in the video while mountain biking. Be flexible, if you are an avid environmentalist, you can take a video of the plants available in the low elevation area like the junipers and the sagebrush. Describe it in the video and discuss the things you know about the certain plant you are about to plant. The Great Basin National Park is a great environment, and as we all know, our Planet Earth is slowly degrading into a waste land. Try to take a video that shows how beautiful the place is. To make a point that we should act now, include in the video some of the trashes that can be found in the place and how it could affect the environment. Video your hiking moments. It would be nice to watch you and your companions tired while trying to reach your goal, and when you reach it, seeing it on tape can sure bring back happy memories.

Memorable Tours

You can even take a video while a ranger is touring you around the place. If ever you are about to visit Lehman Caves, if it is no against the rules, you can take a video around the place. It would be nice to record the tour ad play it whenever you want to see again the stalactites and stalagmites along with the excitement when walking into a cave that is dark.

Gazing at Fantastic Views

Stargazing in the Great Basin National Park would also be good to video since the darkness or light levels in the place when tested was said to be the dimmest in the country. If you are only to visit the place, you can search the net for videos taken by other people that have already visited the place and see what they have to say. Pictures and Videos are worth a thousand words but of course, the memory fresh in your mind is by far the best, so while at the Great Basin National Park, explore and enjoy!

From the archeological evidences, there are prehistoric people lived in the area of Great Basin along the shores of ancient Lake Bonneville way back 12,000 years ago. At the time of the coming of Europeans, the area was occupied by a large group of Native Uto-Aztecan speaking American tribes which are communally recognized as the Great Basin tribes that includes the Ute, Paiute and Shoshone. The early Spanish explorers in the Southwest were the first Europeans to come across the area in the late 18th century. Fur Trappers from Hudson Bay Company had discovered the upper Basin in Oregon Country during 19th century. After several expeditions across the region, John C. Fremont made the first complete and precise map of the region in 1840.

Historical Arrangements and Arrivals

And through the 1846 Oregon Treaty which gives the small portion of the north on the 42nd parallel and the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo bestowed the United States the full control of the area. In the late 1840’s in the arable regions of Salt Lake City and the Cache Valley was the first huge range white arrangement in the region by the early Mormon pioneers.

The Mormon has rapidly founded a provisional government and outlined a proposition for a new state which they identified as the State of Deseret that surrounded the entire Great Basin as well as the coastline of Southern California. And by the creation of the Oregon Territory in 1848, the admission of California to the union in 1850 and the formation of the Utah Territory in 1850 made the region in consecutively organized. In 1848, the discovery of gold in California flourished travelers across the Great Basin along the California track which tailed across Nevada, the Humboldt River.

The Pony Express came through the region at some stage in 1860, which gives way to deliver mail from the eastern United States to California. Moreover, The Pacific Central put up a railroad crossed the Great Basin amidst Reno, Nevada, and Ogden Utah became as one of the earliest North American transcontinental railroads. From the Salt Lake City is another major railroad southwest from to Nevada which brought the naissance of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Great Basin National Park was founded in 1986 by the federal government including 122 square miles of land in Nevada close to the Utah border.

Recent Population

Until now, the Basin has continued among the most barely inhabited areas of the United States. Salt Lake City, Utah on the eastern edge and Reno, Nevada on the western edge are the two largest cities in the Basin. There are about 600,000 residents on the areas of southwestern edge that includes the border of Los Angeles which compose of Lancaster and Palmdale and Victorville and Hesperia and California.

And since the Great Basin provides a good place to live with nature, the population growth is really expected for the next 50 years.

Usually, when you are out in the Great Basin National Park, you have a lot of options and things that you can do. You can go out the area nearby to go wildlife watching. In the park itself, you can see a lot of variety of birds to observe or even take pictures of. Speaking of photography, you can even bring your Polaroid or digital camera and take pictures at your favorite place like the outside of the Lehman caves. Exercise those limbs and goes mountain biking. How about getting your fishing rod and baits out and go fishing? Or even create a bonfire while camping!

Getting into Adventure

But if you really are adventurous, outgoing, down to earth and want to go and experience the adventure of a lifetime, take the Great Basin National Park hiking tours! Hiking would surely make you enjoy your stay and even make you appreciate the beauty of little things along the way.

Hiking trails in the Great Basin National Park most of the time is in an elevation of 10,000 feet, so it would be advised that you bring appropriate clothing and hiking tools since the temperature tends to change while going up. Another thing is wear the right footwear since you would probably stumble upon sharp or large rocks along the way.

Since hiking is also a rigorous and very tiring activity, make it a point to bring a jug or even a liter of water. In case of injuries like a scrape on the knee or elbow, bring a first aid kit, even a pouch will do that will contain a bandage or gauze, beta dine or alcohol and a microspore tape.

View Larger Map

A prepared hiker will also have a park map to make sure they don’t get lost. Know also the different hiking trails that you and your companions can take. Here are some of the trails that you can hike on:

• The Lehman Creek Trail which starts from the Upper Lehman Creek Campground which is 6.5 km in length.

• The Visitor Center Nature at 400 km.

• The Lexington Arch that is 1.6 km long.

• Bristlecone Pine Glacier which extends to the Wheeler Peak Cirque which boasts an undeviating body of ice amidst the Wasatch Range and the Sierra Nevada.

• The Mountain View trail which is at the same length like the Osceola Ditch trail at 0.4 km.

These trails are just a few of the trails that you can explore while hiking. There are a lot more. Be free to ask around or ask for recommendations from a ranger at the Great Basin National Park.

Take note though that you might meet a Great Basin Rattlesnake. Just in case you see one, do not panic, instead, remain calm and wait for the snake to escape. These Great Basin Rattlesnakes are venomous but it is less likely that they would attack a human unless you try to catch them. These rattlesnakes are common on the grassy parts of the area, so as a safety precaution, don’t stick your hand or foot that might be too dark since it might be a home of one.

When you are to travel or go on vacation to tourist hot spots like the Great Basin National Park, you aren’t only expected to bring your fun side too but also your ‘to-do list or shopping lists.’ Towel, shampoo, body scrub, bathrobe, soap and other toiletries must also be there for you. And of course! In the world today you cannot have a nice vacation without bringing in extra money.

Best Tips While Taking a Break

But, that is not all that you should remember when taking a break in some place far away from home. Remember that you would need a place to stay the night or days too unless you want to drive home for at least 5 hours without having your eyes closed for a minute or so.

So, what are the factors to consider when choosing lodging? Sure, there would be a lot to choose from especially if the place is a hot spot for tourists. But then again, you would really want to relax right? Avoid the hassle and scroll down to learn more on choosing lodging:

1. First off, don’t just try searching or browsing the net for ‘best lodging in Great Basin National Park’. Of course, there would be a lot of results, but I tell you, this is unadvisable since all businessmen knows that they need to create a good front and words are chosen carefully. Meaning, everything is not always what it seems to be.

2. In order to avoid the hassle of looking out for lodging, plan ahead. Consult friends that have gone into that place, or better yet, find a traveling agency that promotes the place wherein you are to go to.

3. If you are ever inquiring into these traveling agencies, don’t hesitate to ask about details regarding the lodging that they are telling you. Remember that you are the customer and you will pay money in order to relax even for a while.

4. Although guidebooks are okay, you shouldn’t rely only on these references. True, they have ratings regarding the place, but it doesn’t mean that since it is only a 3-star hotel or inn its service is already laughable. Don’t be judgmental.

5. If you have already chosen or at least you have already closed your options into two, check out the services they offer.

6. Be considerate of your needs and that of your companions too. Are you a large group that needs at least 2 rooms to accommodate your needs? Do you have children to take along with you? Or maybe your grandmother ad your parents to take along the trip? Be sure that the place you will stay in is ‘friendly’ to the disabled, the elderly and the young.

7. Is breakfast, lunch and dinner already included in the fee? What are the facilities that you think you would need and are they available? Do they have telephone? How about signal for your cell phone? Is Wi-fi accessible in the area?

8. Last, but not the least, be sure that the lodging you are to choose has a lot of access to areas like gas stations, convenience stores and of course the place you are about to visit. But, along with this, make it a point to choose a lodging that has a good service yet affordable at the same time.

Have a great time and enjoy your stay!