Great Basin National Park facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Great Basin National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Bristlecone pine and Wheeler Peak
Great Basin National Park Location in Nevada Show map of Nevada Great Basin National Park Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	White Pine County, Nevada, United States
Nearest city	Ely, Baker, Border
Area	77,180 acres (312.3 km2)
Established	October 27, 1986
Visitors	131,802 (in 2019)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Great Basin National Park

Great Basin National Park from above

Great Basin National Park is a special place in Nevada, near the Utah border. It became a national park in 1986. You can usually get there by taking Nevada State Route 488. This road connects to U.S. Routes 6 and 50 through the small town of Baker.

The park gets its name from the Great Basin. This is a large, dry, and mountainous area between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Mountains. The park is about 290 miles (467 km) north of Las Vegas. It protects 77,180 acres (31,238 hectares) of land.

This park is famous for its very old bristlecone pine trees. These are some of the oldest living things on Earth! It also has the amazing Lehman Caves at the base of Wheeler Peak, which is 13,063 feet (3,982 m) tall. You can also see the Wheeler Peak Glacier here.

Lehman Caves was first made a national monument in 1922 by President Warren G. Harding. Later, in 1986, it became part of the national park. The park has many places to camp, both in developed campgrounds and in the wild backcountry. The Highland Ridge Wilderness is next to the park. Together, these areas protect a huge space for wildlife in eastern Nevada.

Exploring Nature in Great Basin National Park

Amazing Plants and Trees

Tall conifer trees grow on Wheeler Peak.

Great Basin National Park is home to 11 types of conifer trees and over 800 kinds of plants!

Near the Visitor Center, you'll see plants like sagebrush, saltbush, single-leaf pinyon trees, and Utah juniper. As you go higher up the mountains, you'll find green meadows and trees like white fir, quaking aspen, Englemann spruce, and large Ponderosa pines. At the very top, where trees can barely grow, there are small, delicate plants and rocky areas.

A very old bristlecone pine tree.

One of the most amazing plants here was a Great Basin bristlecone pine tree. It was at least 5,000 years old, making it the oldest known living thing that isn't a clone! Sadly, this tree, nicknamed Prometheus, was cut down in 1964 for research.

Wildlife and Animal Life Cycle

Great Basin National Park is full of different animals! There are 61 types of mammals, 18 kinds of reptiles, 238 bird species, 2 types of amphibians, and 8 kinds of fish.

Mammals

A Townsend's big-eared bat.

Many animals live in the park's different habitats. In the lower, sagebrush areas, you might see:

• Jackrabbits
• Pygmy rabbits
• Mountain cottontails
• Ground squirrels
• Chipmunks
• Various mice

Less common animals in these areas include Pronghorns, coyotes, kit foxes, and badgers.

In the rocky mountain slopes and nearby valleys, you might spot:

• Cougars
• Bobcats
• Marmots
• Rock squirrels
• Bighorn sheep

Other animals found here are elk, mule deer, spotted skunks, shrews, ringtail cats, and ermine.

Fish

Stella Lake

The Bonneville cutthroat trout is the only fish that naturally lives in Great Basin National Park's mountain waters. Other types of trout, like Lahontan cutthroat trout, rainbow, brook, and brown trout, were put into the lakes and streams before the park was created.

Birds

Many birds call Great Basin National Park home, such as:

• Canada geese
• Hawks
• Sparrows
• Bald eagles
• Tundra swans
• Barn owls
• Snow geese
• Killdeer
• Golden eagles
• Woodpeckers
• Mallards
• Wrens
• Greater roadrunners
• Chickadees
• Great horned owls
• Ravens
• Magpies
• Swallows

Amphibians

Only two types of amphibians have been found in the southern Snake Range and nearby valleys:

• The western spadefoot toad (Spea hammondii)
• The leopard frog (Rana pipiens)

Understanding the Park's Geology

Park map (click map to enlarge)

Many of the rocks in the park formed during the Cambrian period, about 550 million years ago. Back then, this area was at the edge of a huge landmass called Laurentia. Over time, the Earth's crust moved a lot. This caused rocks to break (called faulting) and mountains to form (called orogenies). These events created different kinds of rocks, including mafic and rhyolitic rocks.

There was also a lot of volcanic activity during the Cambrian period. This helped lift the land even more. Later, more faulting happened, and layers of rock, ash, and volcanic dust piled up in the Snake Range.

Wheeler Peak, a tall mountain in the park.

Ice Ages and Glaciers

During the Pleistocene epoch (a time of many ice ages), glaciers carved out the peaks of the Snake Range. They left behind steep canyon walls, U-shaped valleys, bowl-shaped cirques, and piles of rock and dirt called moraines.

How Lehman Caves Formed

The Lehman Caves started forming around 550 million years ago, when the area was covered by a warm, shallow ocean. The caves are mostly made of marble and limestone. Over millions of years, water slowly dissolved these rocks, creating the amazing shapes and rooms you see today.

During the Pleistocene, more water flowed through the caves, making them even deeper. Eventually, the water levels dropped, leaving behind the large rooms and passages of the Lehman Caves system.

Cool Places to See

The park has many beautiful spots, including Lexington Arch, the Lehman Orchard and Aqueduct, Rhodes Cabin, Stella and Teresa Lakes, and the Wheeler Peak Glacier.

Exploring Lehman Caves

39°00′20″N 114°13′13″W / 39.00556°N 114.22028°W / 39.00556; -114.22028

The "Cypress Swamp" inside Lehman Cave.

The Lehman Caves were first protected as a national monument in 1922. They became part of the national park in 1986.

It's believed that Absalom Lehman discovered the caves in 1885.

Many living things call Lehman Caves home. The most common are tiny bacteria. Some insects and other small creatures, like crickets, spiders, pseudoscorpions, mites, and springtails, can live their whole lives inside the cave. They eat organic material that other animals bring in or that washes in from outside.

Other animals use the cave for shelter but have to leave to find food. These include chipmunks, mice, pack rats, and several types of bats. At least 10 kinds of bats have been found near the park, including the Townsend's big-eared bat.

Lexington Arch 38°50′39″N 114°12′30″W / 38.84417°N 114.20833°W / 38.84417; -114.20833 is a huge limestone arch.

Hiking Trails for Adventure

The park has 12 trails, ranging from short walks of 0.3 miles (0.5 km) to long hikes of 13.1 miles (21.1 km). Some trails are easy nature walks at 6,825 feet (2,080 m) elevation. The Wheeler Summit trail starts at 10,160 feet (3,097 m) and is very challenging. Hiking at such high altitudes can be dangerous for people who are not prepared. There are also paths in the wilder southern part of the park.

Visitor Centers: Your Park Guide

The Great Basin Visitor Center is in the town of Baker. The Lehman Caves Visitor Center is inside the park, about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from Baker. Both centers have cool exhibits about the park's geology, nature, and history. They also show films to help you learn about the park.

At the Lehman Caves Visitor Center, you can see the "Forgotten Winchester" rifle. This rifle, made in 1882, was found leaning against a juniper tree in the park in 2014!

In 2017, the park welcomed 168,028 visitors.

Park Climate

Wheeler Peak and the Snake Range.

Great Basin National Park has a "Cold Semi-Arid Climate." This means it's mostly dry. The Lehman Caves Visitor Center area usually doesn't get colder than -3.8 °F (-19.9 °C) in winter.

The park is in a very dry area and doesn't get much rain most of the year. Most of the water comes from winter snow or summer thunderstorms. Any water that falls here either evaporates, sinks into the ground, or flows into lakes. It never reaches the ocean!

Winters are cool, and summers can be mild or hot. The weather can change very quickly, especially high up on Wheeler Peak. Inside Lehman Caves, the temperature stays about 50 °F (10 °C) all year, with 90% humidity.

The climate changes depending on how high up you are. Higher places are cooler and get more rain, while lower places are hotter and drier. The information below is for the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.

See also

In Spanish: Parque nacional de la Gran Cuenca para niños