Sight · Great Basin National Park
A high cirque lake at the end of a strenuous full-day climb.
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The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Basin Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Basin National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Basin audio tourRecorded for this place
Baker Creek Trailhead: Lake or Meadow Loop“You're nearing Baker Creek Trailhead, the start of the long climb to Baker Lake. The lake sits in a rocky bowl beneath Baker and Pyramid peaks, with snow often lingering along the shore.”
Plays as you drive up to Baker Lake in the Parkwolf Great Basin Tour Guide.
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Baker Lake is one of Great Basin's largest mountain lakes, at about 10,620 feet in a glacial cirque at the head of Baker Creek. Conifers, steep talus and rocky peaks frame the water, and snow often lingers along the shore. The payoff is a quiet alpine basin; the cost is a strenuous full-day hike, not a quick stop off the scenic drive.
The route starts at Baker Creek Trailhead and climbs from about 8,020 feet. The posted round trip is 10.4 miles with 2,610 feet of gain and a 5-to-10-hour estimate. Other track measurements run longer, so leave a generous day. The trail climbs through sagebrush, aspen and pine before the lake opens beyond the trees; switchbacks soften the grade but do not make this an easy walk. The rocky route is not accessible.
Baker and Johnson Lakes sit in glacial cirques. Baker's water level rises with spring snowmelt and usually falls through late summer and fall, so the shoreline can change with the year's snowpack. Look for the contrast between the forested shore and broad scree slopes around the bowl.
Introduced trout were removed in a 2021 treatment, and native Bonneville Cutthroat Trout were reintroduced. Native Bonneville Cutthroat Trout were reintroduced by 2024. Before the work, researchers mapped the lake floor and checked fish habitat; hauling equipment into this remote basin was part of the effort to protect a native fish in cold, high-country water.
Drive gravel Baker Creek Road to Baker Creek Trailhead. The road can close intermittently in winter and spring. Designated parking and a pit toilet are at the trailhead, but there is no potable water along Baker Creek Road; fill up before turning onto it and carry enough for a long climb. Pets are not allowed on park trails. Overnight stays along the Baker/Johnson Creek Loop require a free backcountry permit from a visitor center.
At the shore, include the water with the rocky cirque and conifers rather than filling the frame with lake surface; that gives the small lake its scale. Snow patches on the talus are a common part of the scene, though their amount and the visible shoreline shift with the year's snowpack.
Wildlife
22 sightingsElkMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
237 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
186 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
22 sightingsRattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
23 sightingsDusky GrouseMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
18 sightingsThree-toed WoodpeckerMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Basin. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateBristlecone Trail2.8 mi · 2.3 hr · 3.6 mi awayAncient bristlecones reward a short climb above 10,000 feet.
ChallengingAlpine Lakes, Bristlecone, and Glacier Loop6 mi · 4 hr · 3.6 mi awayTwo alpine lakes, old bristlecones, and a rocky glacier climb.
EasyTeresa Lake Trail1.5 mi · 1 hr · 3.6 mi awayA short, high-altitude walk to Teresa Lake beneath Wheeler Peak.
ModerateStella Lake via Alpine Lakes Loop Trail2.1 mi · 1.5 hr · 3.6 mi awayA high lake beneath Wheeler Peak, a little over a mile in.EasyAlpine Lakes Loop2.7 mi · 2.3 hr · 3.6 mi awayTwo alpine lakes and a Wheeler Peak backdrop reward the climb.
EasySky Island Forest Trail0.4 mi · 30 min · 3.6 mi awayA level boardwalk loop through a forest high above the desert.
ModerateGlacier Trail4.8 mi · 3 hr · 3.6 mi awayAncient bristlecones lead into the rocky cirque of Nevada’s last glacier.ChallengingBaker Lake Trail10.4 mi · 8 hr · 3.7 mi awayA high alpine lake at the end of a full-day climb.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayJohnson LakeA high alpine lake with a long climb and mine cabins nearby.
Sight · 1.8 mi awayJohnson Lake Mine Historic DistrictA tough climb into the story of a remote tungsten mine.
Sight · 2 mi awayWheeler PeakLong, exposed climb to Nevada’s second-highest summit.Sight · 2.3 mi awayWheeler Peak Glacier ViewpointA high-altitude hike to Nevada’s last glacier, sometimes hidden by rock.Sight · 3 mi awayWheeler Peak Bristlecone GroveA high-country hike among bristlecones and glacial boulders.
Sight · 3.2 mi awayTeresa LakeA short spur brings Wheeler Peak into the lake view.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayStella LakeA mountain lake worth the full high-country loop.
Campground · 3.7 mi awayWheeler Peak CampgroundCamp beneath Wheeler Peak at the National Park System's highest campground.Parkwolf’s Great Basin ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
