Great Basin National Park, NV
A 22-mile one-way road-and-track route skirting Great Basin’s north side.
Overview
Map & elevation
Plan your hike
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.
Recorded for this area
When a Tree Skips a Ring“Counting a bristlecone pine's rings isn't quite the same as counting its birthdays. In a harsh year, growth can be so limited that the tree leaves no ring at all.”
Plays on the road 1 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Basin Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
This is a 22.26-mile, one-way segment of the American Discovery Trail, following a road-and-track corridor from the Utah–Nevada line near Baker west toward the Osceola area along Great Basin’s northern side. It is a committed point-to-point walk, not a loop or a short park day hike; allow roughly 10–12 hours on foot and arrange a vehicle transfer.
Expect a mix of paved road and dirt roads or tracks rather than a continuous purpose-built footpath. The mapped corridor climbs from about 5,300 feet to roughly 7,900 feet. Sections are exposed to vehicle traffic, and the route crosses multiple jurisdictions; wayfinding and permitted activities can vary.
The corridor opens toward Spring Valley and the Schell Creek Range. The route is a long-distance connector through high-desert mountain country, with the changing road surface and broad valley views as its main character.
This entry covers only the mapped Great Basin-adjacent 22.26-mile section. The much longer Baker-to-Preston Nevada segment continues beyond it. No dedicated parking or reliable water and resupply points were verified for this section, so confirm both endpoints, legal access, transport and supplies before setting out. The overall route is not continuously signed.
Wildlife
22 sightingsElkMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
237 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
185 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
ModeratePole Canyon Trail6.6 mi · 4.5 hr · 9.3 mi awayA gradual creek climb, a sharp pass, and a smarter way round.
ModerateLexington Arch Trail5.6 mi · 4 hr · 9.7 mi awayA huge limestone arch rewards a sunlit canyon climb.
ChallengingTimber Creek Trail5.1 mi · 4.5 hr · 10.7 mi awayClimb through pines to a Pyramid Peak meadow, then loop back.
ChallengingBaker & Johnson Lakes Loop11.7 mi · 10 hr · 10.7 mi awayTwo high lakes and a century of tungsten mining.
ChallengingJohnson Lake via Baker Creek9.8 mi · 6.5 hr · 10.7 mi awayA steep climb to a high lake and old tungsten mine ruins.
ModerateBaker Creek Loop3.3 mi · 2.3 hr · 10.7 mi awayCreek crossings, hillside switchbacks, and a meadow return.ChallengingBaker Lake Trail10.4 mi · 8 hr · 10.7 mi awayA high alpine lake at the end of a full-day climb.
ModerateServiceberry Trail3.2 mi · 2 hr · 10.7 mi awaySwitchback views across open sagebrush toward Eagle and Granite peaks.
Gas station · 5.7 mi awayBaker Fuel & RVFuel up in Baker before the park’s remote mountain roads.
Visitor center · 6.2 mi awayGreat Basin Visitor CenterSee 4,862 rings from the Prometheus bristlecone.
Sight · 7.2 mi awayBaker Archaeological SiteA short, booklet-guided walk through a Fremont village site.
Lodging · 7.4 mi awayBorder InnA useful diner, fuel and motel stop at the Utah-Nevada line.
Sight · 8.2 mi awayRanching ExhibitMetal ranching silhouettes, sagebrush, and mountains in one quick stop.
Picnic area · 9.1 mi awayPole Canyon Trailhead Picnic AreaTake a shaded break at accessible tables with charcoal grills.
Sight · 9.5 mi awayUpper Pictograph CaveRed pictographs worth a look from outside the shelter.
Campground · 9.6 mi awayGrey Cliffs CampgroundA 16-site tent campground beside limestone cliffs; bring your own water.Parkwolf’s Great Basin ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
