We visited Great Basin National Park in northeastern Nevada at the end of August 2025, and I told myself I wouldn’t write about it anytime soon. I needed time to wrap my head around everything we saw. But I couldn’t wait. I had to let you in on a secret. Great Basin National Park is magnificent. Whether you take a week to indulge in its beauty or a long weekend, this park should be on your bucket list.
If you’re just here to read about why you SHOULD NOT do the Northern Nevada Railway Star Train,
Table of Contents
I’m giving you a rundown on what we did so you have an idea of what can easily be accomplished in two full days. Also, I’m going to give you some fair warnings. Let’s get one of those warnings out of the way first.
Let’s Clear the Road Before We Get to the Good Stuff
If you want to comfortably enjoy every trail (not all) at Great Basin National Park, you need a 4-wheel drive or at least high-clearance vehicle. I’m just being real. Let’s get that out of the way.
There are some areas of the park (not all) that have unpaved, rocky, washboard roads that you must take to get to some trailheads. That is, unless you’re willing to park somewhere (I don’t know where) and hike a much longer way. If you can do that, go for it!
We drove one of these roads and decided that was it for us- the road to Sage Steppe/Upper Strawberry trailhead. We were in my brand-new SUV, and my nerves were shot by the time we got to there. An anxious me does not equal a pleasant companion and that’s why my husband steered clear of rocky, washboard roads for the remainder of our trip- or the Great Basin part of it, anyway.
If you’re like me and don’t like janky roads, stick to the Lehman Caves area and the viewpoints/trailheads on the park’s 12-mile paved Wheeler Peak Scenic Road. More about those below.
Even though I ended up changing our itinerary because of the roads, we STILL ranked Great Basin a standout, must-see national park. Why don’t more people talk about this place?
How We Spent Our Time in Great Basin
Lehman Caves Tour
We chose to kick off our time in Great Basin National Park with a tour of Lehman Caves. To explore the cave, you must book a ranger-guided tour. There are two tours offered- the Parachute Shield and Gothic Lantern Tours, but only Parachute Shield can be booked in advance. Tickets must be purchased through recreation.gov. Tickets go on sale 30 days prior to the scheduled tour date. Be ready to book the moment tickets are available! Our tour sold out in 20 seconds.
Tickets for the Gothic Lantern Tour can only be purchased on a same day/walk-up basis. If you want to do this tour, I suggest getting to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center as soon as it opens. There was already a long line of people wanting tickets for this tour when we arrived at 8:30 AM.
The tours sell out so quickly because tour groups are small– 20 people max. Trust me, this is a good thing.
I’ve been on tours in other caves with upwards of 75-100 people which results in less interaction with the guides and less time to take photos- and you’re going to want both! Cave guides provide a lot of site-specific, interesting information but you often can’t hear it if you’re at the hind end of a 100-person line. Great Basin National Park does their tours right!
The cave tour lasted about 45 minutes. (There is about a 10–15-minute safety and history overview outside the cave before you get started.) I didn’t love how you entered the cave through a long manmade concrete subway-like tunnel, but the cave itself was awesome! Definitely worth the $12 ticket price.
Ticket price is current as of 2025. There are discounted tickets for seniors, children, and those holding an Interagency Access Pass. To learn more about Interagency Passes, visit the National Park Service’s Entrance Passes page.
Lehman is full of showy formations and holds the record for housing the most shield formations in the world. Watch your head on this tour! If you’re not comfortable with stooping for a few minutes at a time, this tour may not be for you.
Sage Steppe Loop/Upper Strawberry Creek Trail
Sage Steppe/Upper Strawberry was not on my original itinerary. But when you’re given lemons (like not being able to find parking for the trail you really want to do), you have to make lemonade. And this lemonade turned out to be sweet!
We knew we were in for a good hike when we saw the sea of gold rabbitbrush and dried grasses, rolling sage-studded hills, distant alpine peaks, and a trickling creek composing the scene.
The trail meanders from the grassland into a forest fraught with wildfire damage. Enjoying this section is a matter of perspective. It is a unique opportunity to see a forest in a state of rebirth. Baby aspens were popping up everywhere, their leaves quaking in the breeze. We were in Great Basin too early for leaf-peeping, but how beautiful this trail will be in autumn!
The total distance of the Sage Steppe/Upper Strawberry Trail is 4 miles (6.4 km). It is an easy hike until you reach the Upper Strawberry portion where you steadily climb to the mountain saddle. We took our time and hiked a little over half of the trail in about 2 hours.
Don’t think you have to hike the whole thing to make the drive out to Strawberry Creek worth it. We didn’t finish the hike due to a thunderstorm approaching, but we plan to finish it the next time we visit. (Hopefully, in a 4-wheel drive.) Hike Sage Steppe/Upper Strawberry if you have the chance!
Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive
The Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive is a winding 12-mile (19.3 km) drive featuring Great Basin’s grandest mountain and canyon views. Make sure you take a few minutes to stop at the overlooks. You’ll find the Alpine Lakes, Bristlecone, Glacier, Wheeler Peak Summit, and Osceola Ditch trailheads on the scenic drive.
You can’t drive to the top of Wheeler Peak, Nevada’s second-tallest mountain, but you can get amazing views of the 13,065-foot peak on the scenic drive.
Alpine Lake/Bristlecone/Glacier Trail
I told a park ranger the only thing that would make this a more perfect day hike is a waterfall. But I can live without a waterfall when a hike is this unforgettable.
A lot of people choose to split these three trails into separate hikes. Instead, we decided to dedicate half a day and make the three trails a single 6-mile (9.7 km) hike. You’ll pass the Bristlecone Pine trail anyway if you hike to the glacier, so it makes sense at least hike the Glacier and Bristlecone trails together at total of 4.1 miles (6.6 km) roundtrip.
If adding the trail from the glacier interpretive sign (where we stopped) to the foot of the glacier, prepare for a strenuous one-mile hike. You’ll be hiking over glacial moraine as seen in the photo above. A park ranger told us she didn’t find the hike to the glacier to be worth the time. Not that the glacier isn’t impressive, it’s just not impressive enough to add that extra mile.
I gave this trail a moderate/strenuous rating due to the high elevation (10,000-11,000 feet) and some steep uphill portions. If not for the high elevation, I’d rate this trail as moderate for an average hiker.
Take the time to complete the bristlecone grove interpretive loop. These ancient trees are astounding- even the dead ones. Read the signage to find out why. There are some great photo ops along this trail, too. Enjoy!
Osceola Ditch Trail
Because we decided against the Baker Lake Trail (again, the roads), we had to choose another hike. We’d passed the Osceola Ditch trailhead a few times the day before, but thought, “Meh… probably not that great.” We were wrong. This is definitely an underrated trail.
With its ties to the area’s 19th century mining history and majestic views to boot, this trail should be getting more hype.
Osceola Ditch trailhead is located on the 12-mile (19.3 km) Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. After proceeding 4.5 miles (7.2 km) on the scenic drive, look for the trailhead on the right. A small parking area is available.
This relatively easy, mostly flat trail is 9.2-mile (15 km) out-and-back and leads to the Strawberry Creek section of the park. We decided to make this a shorter 3-mile (4.8 km) out-and-back by turning around about 1/2 mile (.8 km) after the Mill Creek crossing.
The part of the trail closest to Strawberry Creek was closed in August 2025 due to hazardous post-wildfire conditions. There was no indication of when that section would re-open.
Great Basin Cafe
Great Basin Cafe is one of the few restaurants you’ll find in Baker, Nevada and the only restaurant you’ll find in Great Basin National Park. Open April-October next to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center, the cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and desserts with prices that won’t break the bank. The huckleberry milkshake is to die for!
Made with fresh huckleberries, the shakes are high-quality and intensely flavored. Don’t leave the park without trying one.
Junior Ranger Program
Great Basin’s Junior Ranger book had lots of quality learning activities that could easily be accomplished during a two day visit to the park.
I was able to start working on my Great Basin Junior Ranger book before I got to the park by downloading and printing a copy at home. By the time I got there, I was halfway to earning my badge! Please note: If you don’t finish your book and earn your badge during your visit, Great Basin is one of the national parks that will not mail badges.
For more information about the National Park Service’s Junior Ranger program, check out my post Junior Rangers Never Get Old.
How We Didn’t Spend Our Time in Great Basin
Baker Creek Loop and Lexington Arch trails. See the park’s Hiking Trails page for information about those areas.
I’ve already explained why we didn’t do these two trails- the roads. After we hiked the Sage Steppe/Upper Strawberry Trail, we asked a park ranger about road conditions to Baker Creek and Lexington Arch. His response was, “Well…” And that was all we needed to hear.
My dream is to return to Great Basin National Park one day with a Jeep Rubicon. But you know what they say about wishin’ in one hand…
We also didn’t hike to the Wheeler Peak Summit. Like my husband says, “Could we do it if our lives depended on it? Sure. But our lives don’t depend on it, so…”
And If You’re Wishing for Some Stargazing
Don’t Do the Star Train in Ely!
This was the biggest disappointment on our trip to Great Basin. A $130 disappointment to be exact. If you are considering booking a ride on the Nevada Northern Railway Star Train in nearby Ely, Nevada, PLEASE READ THIS FIRST. This episode of Star Train could be its own post.
Why was the Star Train the biggest disappointment?
It wasn’t the weather.
No one can accurately predict the weather months in advance. We knew that when we booked the tickets three months before our trip. We were willing to take the risk.
Unfortunately, there was a lot of cloud cover the night of our ride, and the stars were mostly obscured. Because of the clouds, the astronomers were never able to get their telescopes focused. Everyone on the train was very disappointed, but we all knew (or should have known) that might happen.
It was the false advertising.
No, the disappointment came from Nevada Northern Railway’s false advertising. We were told the Star Train would take us to “some of the darkest skies in the continental United States.” No, it did not. Where it did take us was a short distance outside of Ely where we could still see all the lights of Ely. For $130.
“Dark skies” means no lights, bruh.
A lot of people complained.
And the scenery.
And if you’re hoping for a winding train ride through those mountains in the distance, this isn’t the ride for you. In fact, this was the most boring train ride I’ve ever taken. The train pulls straight out of the depot into the flat desert, stops before you get close to the mountains, turns around and comes back to a small concrete platform where astronomers set up a few telescopes. On a good night, I guess you forget about the boring ride, because you get to see lots of awesome stars through big telescopes. Or do you?
And the observation platform.
Our train was nowhere close to full. On the way out into the desert, an astronomer warned us that we may have to move quickly at the telescopes to stay on schedule with the train. I looked around and thought (it might have been out loud), “We’ll have to move quickly? What happens when the train is full?” Most of the time the Star Train sells out. Our ride supposedly sold out after we got tickets. I guess the railroad either lied about that or a whole lot of people didn’t show up.
Sure, the astronomers on board were stellar professionals. One had a doctorate degree from Cal Tech. Another was working on designing the most powerful telescope in the world. And I have to hand it to them. They tried (mostly in vain) to lift everyone’s spirits by giving away some neat astronomy posters. Not $130 neat, but the gesture was appreciated. We were also offered the opportunity to look at photos of stars on the astronomers’ iPads when we got back to the depot. No thanks. I’m pretty sure I can find those online myself… at home…for free. All I could think about was the airport scene in the movie Four Christmases.
“Would it be possible to take us out to Sizzler and get us McDonald’s as a dessert?”- Vince Vaughn in Four Christmases
Because I’m so far into this black hole and I’ve mentioned food…
On the website, Northern Nevada Railway advertises that refreshments and light snacks are available on board the train. They say “available”, not free. Personally, I think the website should say, “for purchase”. I knew we’d get screwed on snacks, so I brought my own. No one said I couldn’t. I think the staff could have passed out a few snacks to make up for the “No-Star Train”. Some snack-size Milky Way bars, perhaps.
But looking back, maybe the Star Train was worth MORE than the price of the tickets.
After we pulled out of the depot, we watched a group of kids begin racing the train on their bicycles. It looked like they’d waited all day to do this. Leaned over, elbows out, pedaling like they were in it for the gold, these kids had everyone’s attention. When they ran out of road, they jumped off their bikes and turned toward the tracks waving wildly as the train rolled (languidly, unexcitedly, and only a little farther) out into the desert. It was the essence of childhood perfectly captured in less than five Oscar-worthy minutes. Rob Reiner couldn’t have done it better.
I just wish those kids could have caught the $130 we threw out the window. They were the real stars of the Star Train.
You Don’t Need the Star Train!
Here’s a better way to enjoy stargazing while visiting Great Basin. Go to the park! Great Basin National Park is also an International Dark Sky Park meaning it’s got some of the best seen starry skies in the world!
Go to Great Basin National Park’s Astronomy Program. Entry to the park is free. The astronomy program is free. There are trained astronomers. There are telescopes. Even better, there are true dark skies. And if the weather doesn’t cooperate, you haven’t wasted any money. Check Great Basin National Park’s calendar to find out what nights the Astronomy Program is available.
If you can’t get to the park’s astronomy program, try going to the Baker Archeological Site in the town of Baker, Nevada just outside of the park’s entrance. You’ll find true dark skies there, too. A Great Basin park ranger told us that’s where she often goes. The site is free to enter, but does require navigating a rough, washboard road (not too bad, but I wouldn’t do it again).
We visited the Baker Archeological Site during the day because I’m interested in ancient ruins. What a letdown! There’s nothing to see unless you have the keen eye of an archeologist. Go for the stars, not the ruins.
Visit Great Basin National Park’s Stargazing On Your Own page for more information and helpful tips.