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From spectacular alpine lakes to limestone caverns, a small glacier, the oldest living trees on earth and some of the darkest skies in the lower 48, Great Basin is chock-full of national treasures yet is one of the least visited areas in Nevada.
You can’t get much more thrilling than kicking off your Great Basin Route road trip in Las Vegas and heading straight to the remote Great Basin National Park where you’ll see plenty of historical towns, open plains, eight state parks and the deepest of blue skies along the way.
The drive up the US 93 from Vegas to the Great Basin National Park takes around 4.5 hours and is just under 300 miles, before finishing up your journey in the unique towns of Ely or Baker, in White Pine County Nevada. And the endless serving of sights along the way make the drive definitely worthwhile.
The museum introduces visitors to a wealth of men’s history and natural history, including artefacts that showcase Las Vegas’s rise to fame. It also has a library.
Once you leave Las Vegas, you’ll find yourself at the town of Overton, which has a Lost City Museum and offers visitors a chance to get up close and personal with a reconstructed Puebloan house-site and the history of the ancestral Puebloans.
Best known as the ‘City of Roses’ based on their ability to grow wildly in this area of Nevada, the city of Caliente serves as a very welcome place to rest for many road trippers. You can also check out the Dam State Park, Kershaw-Ryan State Park and Cathedral Gorge State Park. Or if you feel like making a quick detour, the Rainbow Canyon Scenic Drive begins just south of Caliente.
The Cathedral Gorge State Park is only 15 miles north of Caliente and you can’t go wrong with a quick trip to the Miller Point Overlook for stunning views and easy hikes into the canyons.
OTHER GREAT THINGS TO DO IN THE GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK
Once you leave the Pioche, you’ll head straight to the Great Basin National Park, which is truly Nevada’s shining glory. The park is home to ancient trees, unique Lehman cave formations, ancient bristlecone pines and the 13,000ft Wheeler Peak. The journey to the Great Basin National Park is ideal for road tripping, as it allows visitors to enjoy hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, fishing and stargazing.
There are also five campgrounds to choose from, including Wheeler Peak Campground, Baker Creek Campground, Grey Cliffs Campground, Lower Lehman Creek Campgrounds and Upper Lehman Creek Campgrounds.
The park features six beehive-shaped charcoal ovens that were used from 1876 to 1879 to process silver ore discovered in the area. You can also enjoy camping and park your campervan for a few nights at the Willow Creek campgrounds.
Award-winning writer, editor, photographer, videographer and owner of October Grey Media. Specialising in travel and lifestyle content and a full member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers. Has contributed regular content for the NewsCorp stable of newspapers and magazines, TravelTalk mag, The Departure Lounge and many more publications in Australia and internationally. Follow on Twitter & instragram #scottpodmore