We had the opportunity to visit this hidden gem in 2020…read more We aren't fishermen/women but we do like to camp, hike and explore. We arrived later in the day and found a trail map. We chose the hardest trail both grade and altitude wise and off we went. We were there in early October and the leaves were changing so that was a plus. Our hike was a great challenge and we got in a terrific workout. The lake itself is currently being drained to fix the dam. This will take some serious time so I would not advise heading here to fish until this work is completed. I can only imagine how beautiful the lake is when full. I still found it lovely to visit and hike the surrounding mountains. Plenty of quality campsites and not crowded at all. In Nevada, we still have many wide open spaces to explore. So grateful for that fact! I will definitely return once the lake is full again so I can really enjoy the area even more.

We came, unfortunately, when the lake was drained for dam reconstruction. However, that didn't stop…read moreus from taking in a beautiful part of Nevada!!! The aspens in early October are absolutely beautiful and so fun for a hike up the hill and to play in. Cave Lake isn't far from Ely, and Ward Charcoal Ovens is also nearby. I feel like that's important to mention because of how far out Cave Lake already is. It's good to know you can see some other sites!! Our whole family wants to go back to really explore some of the trails - one day!

Good end spot with a bbq, firepit and patch of grass for the dogs and the dog park across the way…read more Nice clean showers. Very quiet.

Hundred percent the nicest, best-maintained KOA park we've ever been to. We got a fully-furnished…read morecabin, so it came complete with a bathroom and kitchenette. The cabin was clean and delightfully decorated, and the bed was comfortable. The grounds are beautiful and the environment so peaceful. Even the common-use restroom is spotlessly-clean and smells reassuringly of disinfectant. There's a small convenience store on site, managed by friendly people who are very knowledgable about the local area. Would love to come back in the summer and sit outside in the evening to enjoy the view.

A Fantastic place for a nights stay on the road traveling. Friendly staff, quiet, clean restrooms,…read morelots of room to spread out. Been coming here since 2010 as we have been traveling north/south and west.

Absolutely CLEAN bathroom and site. Will definitely be coming back. Check-in was absolutely easy…read morewith the office being closed.

Came here with my husband and WOW! Great Basin National Park is an incredible park! The scenery is…read moreabsolutely stunning, with beautiful mountain views, 3,000-5,000 year old bristlecone pines, and great hiking trails. It was much less crowded than many other national parks, since it's so remote. If you're looking for breathtaking landscapes and a quiet escape, this park is definitely worth the visit!

Great Basin National Park is a relatively small portion of the Great Basin as a whole. There is no…read moreNational Park entrance fee required to visit. Per Google: "The Great Basin is a large, arid region in the western United States, defined by its geography and centered on Nevada. It is situated between the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east. The region includes most of Nevada, about half of Utah, and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, and California." While planning our visit, I looked on the nps.gov website, I saw that there are cave tours. I signed up for the Lehman Cave Parachute Shield Tour. The tickets are purchased from recreation.gov website. We started off with a visit to the Great Basin Visitor Center where we looked at exhibits and got a general feel for the area. We bought a few small souvenirs and were on our way! I must say that the park was super beautiful with the changing of the leaves! Parts of the mountains were lit up with red & gold foliage! We drove the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive all the way to the Wheeler Peak Overlook. Go slow-ish and enjoy the views! We stopped by: Osceola Ditch Trail - was a man-made waterway used for mining Wheeler Peak Summit Trail Summit Trailhead Bristlecone-Alpine Lakes Trailhead Mather Overlook Wheeler Peak Overlook - end of the scenic drive and has an awesome view of [yes!] Wheeler Peak Wheeler Peak Overlook is the final destination of the scenic drive. There are stops along the drive. Since we weren't hiking, we stopped at most of the pull-outs and parking lots. Wheeler Peak stands at 13,063 feet and is the second tallest point in Nevada! There are viewing scopes you can use to get a closer look! We made a quick stop at Mather Overlook. You can see Wheeler Peak from here as well. This overlook is named for Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service (NPS). There's a cool bronze relief map of the Wheeler cirque. Then we drove back down to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center for our tour. The tour was very informative and was roughly an hour long. We stayed in Ely, NV which suited our needs. Baker, NV seemed pretty desolate from what I saw driving on the NV-487. Great Basin National Park is fairly remote compared to other National Parks, but definitely worth coming out to visit at least once!

These caves are located in The Great Basin National Park. You need to go to the Lehman Caves…read moreVisitor Center. This is a different location from The Great Basin Visitor Center. In order to visit the caves, you need to purchase a ticket (which is also your reservation) and a National Park Entry Pass of some sort. I purchased my tickets for the Parachute Shield Tour online at the recreation.gov website. I got a Senior ticket ($6) & a regular ticket ($12). There is no additional fee. When I went to check-in, I presented my ticket confirmation email and my National Park Pass. The tour is about an our long. It is said that Absalom S. Lehman discovered the caves when riding his horse. The horse broke through a crust covering the cave's natural entrance. No one really knows for sure who discovered the cave or how. Lehman Caves was designated Lehman Caves National Monument before it became part of The Great Basin National Park. We gathered at a door that looked like the right door. It was the right place to be at, but not the one we used. The Ranger met us here and instructed us to use the shoe washing station. After we all washed the soles of our shoes, we all walked up the hill to a different door to begin our descent into the cave. It's the same door we exited from at the end of the tour. The first room we arrived at was the Lodge Room. Then we walked through a man-made walkway called "The Panama Canal" which led us to the next room, The Inscription Room. Here, you can see where the explorers belly crawled through "Fat Man's Misery" (natural entrance) to get here. When they made it to the Inscription Room, they used the soot from their flame to inscribe their name on the ceiling. To get to the Grand Palace, we walked on the path called "The Rocky Road" which took us past the Lake Room & Cypress Swamp. Our tour ended at the Sunken Garden. To exit, we retraced our paths back to where we entered. We toured these rooms: Lodge Room Inscription Room - has names & dates on the ceiling Cypress Swamp - many stalactites suspended from the low ceiling resemble a swamp full of Cypress Trees Lake Room - named for the small, year-round pool to the side Grand Palace - the largest room on the tour and absolutely wondrous Sunken Garden - deepest part of the cave at about 235 ft below the surface. There's a viewing platform here. The Grand Palace is where you'll see the cave bacon, stalactites and stalagmites that almost touch, this tour's namesake, the Parachute Shield, and other points of interest. Lehman Caves boasts of shield formations, most iconic is the Parachute Shield which is pictured on souvenirs. While most other caves have a couple shield formations, Lehman Caves amazingly has more than 500. Just before the end of our tour, the ranger asked if our group wanted to experience the cave pitch black. We all agreed and the lights were turned off for a minute or two. It was pretty eery, the silence and darkness. Once the lights were back on, we walked out of the cave. This was a very fascinating tour. They say that each time you enter the cave, the experience will be different. If we ever come back here, I'd be willing to take the tour again!

Lehman Caves is a small part of the experience when exploring Great Basin National Park. It's…read morelocated 6 miles from the entrance and just past Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive which takes you to the summit of Great Basin. Since Lehman Caves are done by guided tours with park rangers at specific times, I'd suggest signing up for a tour and checking off going inside the caves in the morning and then having the remainder of the day to drive to Wheeler Peak and do some hiking at your own leisure. This way you're not held hostage to taking an afternoon tour and having to keep an eye on the clock. There are two types of Lehman Cave tours. - Gothic Palace - 30 minutes - $8 fee - 10:30am, 1:30pm - no reservation needed - Lodge Room - 60 minutes - $12 fee - 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm - reservation required. 9:30am, 12:30pm - no reservation needed Reservations for cave tours can be made online at recreation.gov. Spontaneously walking up for day of tours can be made at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center which again is situated 6 miles into Great Basin Park and just past Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. Here's the gist from my experiences... During my first visit to Great Basin back in 2019, I enjoyed seeing the 60 minute Lodge Room. It was a photogenic cave from my recollections. I recommended it at the time. Now for my return visit back in September of 2024, I tried the 30 minute Gothic Palace and was disappointed. You enter one simple room. The hanging walls of stalagmites and stalactites aren't so dramatic. And for a quick 30 minute tour, half the time is spent reviewing rules and procedures. Yes, the ranger turns out the lights for a few moments and gives you a few minutes to capture a few photos. My thoughts were...."I'd rather be hiking at the top of Wheeler Peak." So I guess what I'm trying to say is...choose the 60 minute Lodge Room tour over Gothic Palace. But either way for me....caves are just not my thing, yet I still return to them as I'm a glutton for punishment, lol. Extra notes... - Average cave temperatures are 52 degrees. - No touching the walls due to oils from your hands. - Before entering, you'll wipe the soles of your shoes in a liquid to prevent the spread of disease to the resident bats. - When you complete the tour, you can consider walking the Mountain View Nature Trail for 1/3rd of a mile which starts beside the cave entrance/exit. Though...this nature trail has zero to offer. You're better off getting onto Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive ASAP. Overall, Great Basin NP is host to a variety of natural wonders and ecosystems including ancient bristlecone pine trees, alpine lakes, cascading streams, craggy mountain peaks, a lone standing glacier, adventurous hiking trails and these Lehman Caves. You can include a guided cave tour as part of your journey but in my opinion, you wouldn't be missing anything special if you decide to opt out and simply get started exploring the park on your own terms.

Lages Station/Junction is a relative oasis located in an isolated area between McGill and Currie…read more In the past, there used to be fuel service and a bar/cafe but no longer. Now there's only a small tire repair garage and an area to park RVs or tent camp on the grass with an adjacent covered picnic area with a BBQ grill. The accommodation price is right and there is a small laundry room, flush toilet, and a hot shower in a heated building. Come prepared as there are no stores or anything if you run out of supplies. Call first to set up accommodations as this is a long way to drive and be disappointed if space is unavailable. Locals are friendly and can talk for hours about the local happenings. Downside is the highway traffic can be noisy at night but you get used to it.

These campsites are not very large and will only accommodate tents or trailers around 15 ft max…read more Other than that this, it is an awesome place to camp. All the loops are short and campsites are conveniently spaced apart. Bathrooms and garbage cans are very centralized to all campsites. The bathrooms are pit toilets but probably the cleanest I've ever seen. Instead of smelling like feces they smell like bleach. This camp ground puts you conveniently near the Wheeler Peak trailhead for early access. This is quite convenient if not all people in your party are hiking. There are no showering facilities at this campground and water was unavailable. Plan accordingly.

Remodeled in 2021, this Campground has now 37 site, previously 8 (I think). Other big difference:…read morethey can all be booked on recreation.gov, no more first come first serve. Don't despair if you don't have a reservation, at Lehman Caves visitor center they sell same day empty site, if any of if there was a cancelation. Try to take a site number larger than 6, these have more traffic.

Incredible area to stop And see…read moreHistory! The ovens are so interesting as well as great photo opps! Each on is different. There is a path to part of the way and ground stable enough for a stroller a wheelchair would Work too and it's a very short walk to the ovens. I loved the detail of the bricks and the orange moss growing out of them. The whole area is beautiful. Definitely worth a stop.

What a historic and educational stop this was for us…read more Back in Pandemic 2020, my husband and I traveled up through Northern Nevada and this park was on our list of places to see. It's about 7 miles from the town of Ely and very easy to access. We were the only people out here at the time so it was perfect. There is a fee of $5 to pay. There are six bee hive shaped charcoal ovens which were highly used from 1876 - 1879 to help process the silver ore that was discovered in this area. The Egan mountain range hosts the ovens and it's just a beautiful park. Once the mining ended, the ovens were used as a shelter for travelers and sometimes a hide out for bandits on the loose. The park features camping, picnicking, hiking, mountain biking and fishing. Lots of wild life her including mule deer and elk. We hiked around a bit and just took in the sights and sounds of this wonderful place. Definitely worth a stop should you be traveling this way.

I'm giving this place four stars because I think people may need to level their expectations a bit…read more This was a one night stop for us on our way up to Yellowstone, so we absolutely would not expect the nines out of a small family owned park like this one. Staff were nice to us, I think had we had the experience others had -- I would understand their rating, but we didn't. They were super kind and a young boy led us to our site when we arrived. It's a bit old and yes there are some run down looking buildings, but I think that's just the vibe of Baker. This is a very small and secluded national park, so we are happy with our experience here.

This place is like a horror movie but in real life. It's a bait and switch the pictures on the…read morewebsite DO NOT represent what it's really like. The place is run down the whispering elms don't whisper cause they are mostly dead. The buildings on site are broken down and unkept. The owner or manager looks like an escapee from a homeless camp, at night he runs around screaming at the campers. The view from our campsite was of the broken down buildings and old run down motor homes.

BEAUTIFUL campground only a 5 minute drive from the Great Basin NP's Lehman Cave Visitors center…read more Most of the sites were big enough to accommodate our 30 foot travel-trailer (though a bit tight for the slide-outs). No hook-ups but there's water and a dump station near the visitors center. There are pit toilets and water spigots at either end of the loop. There aren't many sites though and its 1st come, 1st serve so have a back up plan. We did not explore the Upper Campground but were told by other campers that the sites were much smaller. There are plenty of places around to boondock if you don't get a site, and be sure to book a tour though the cave. It's well worth the fare and they sold out every day we were there.

Small primitive campground at Great Basin NP. Open year round and it has about 20 very private…read moresites. Some are pull through and can accommodate 30' campers. Note that road to Wheeler peak is restricted to 24' and under. Has 2 pit toilets. Water is only available summer. And a self pay station. Campsites have picnic tables and fire pits. Make reservations at the park website but no need after 1 Nov. Only $12 a night.