Great Basin National Park
Great Basin: Caves, Bristlecones & Dark Skies
Breakfast of Champions 😉 … then on to the Ward Charcoal Ovens
Today was finally our day in Great Basin National Park. We left early in the morning and got some breakfast at …you guessed it, McDonalds! Gourmet Sausage Egg McMuffins. Breakfast of champions. We left early because today was another day for exploration. We had looked at the map the night before and decided to make a short detour to the Ward Charcoal Ovens site just outside Ely off Hwy 50. We were pleasantly surprised. A 5-mile dirt road later and we arrived at the amazing site! We hadn't done any research beforehand and, for some reason, had gotten it into our heads that this might be an Indigenous site.
We were very wrong.
Instead, we found six enormous beehive-shaped charcoal ovens dating to Nevada's silver-mining boom. Built in the 1870s, the ovens turned local pinyon pine and juniper into charcoal, which was then used to fuel the smelters processing ore from the nearby Ward Mining District.
An Unexpected Stop: Ward Charcoal Ovens
And these things are HUGE. They stand over 30 feet tall!
Fun, fun ,fun in the sun! We were able to explore the whole area, including inside these structures and a small trail in the surrounding area.
A sense of scale
We enjoyed our brief exploration before continuing our drive to Great Basin. Ely is about an hour away from Great Basin, but worth the distance if luxury is your priority, which it was for this particular trip. There are some truly amazing campsites in the area, but that is a different trip. (More on that later…). The road to Great Basin is as flat as the lonely long road of Highway 50 between Austin and Eureka, but it had an intriguing feature: A sign for an old ghost town up in the hills. We had tickets for a Lehman Caves tour, so we made note for that later.
Into Great Basin at last!
We made it!
We made it to the Lehman Caves visitor center and checked in for our tour, hoping to exchange our tickets. My mom was originally supposed to come with use, so we got accessible tickets that only cover part of the whole tour so that she could participate. Unfortunately, the tours were sold out. The partial tour covered only the Gothic Palace, but it was truly awe-inspiring.
Underground: Lehman Caves
Gothic Palace
Holly Abroad Tip ✈️
Reserve Lehman Caves early. Tours regularly sell out, particularly during the summer. Reservations open 30 days ahead.
I felt truly lucky to be able to see the cave at all and I am already making plans to see the whole cave as soon as I can make the reservations. Reservations open 30 days in advance, and during busy periods I'd grab them as soon as you can. For us, winter is coming, so that might have to wait until next year.
Up We Go: Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive
Mather Overlook
A good place for a rest, a picnic lunch and a stunning view
We then explored the Wheeler peak scenic drive through the southern edge of Great Basin. I ended in our next goal for today, the hike up to see the Bristlecone pines. There are actually several stunning hikes in Great Basin, including an 8.6-mile hike to Wheeler Peak (and a difficult 3,100-foot elevation gain), but the three of us decided to keep it simple and just do the 2.8 total mile round-trip hike to the Bristlecones. We stopped at several overlooks along the way, taking in the stunning views of the basin that gave the park its name. We made it to the Bristlecone trailhead around noon and began our hike. Its moderately steep in sections, with a 600-foot elevation gain overall but it was an amazing hike.
Hiking to the Ancient Bristlecones! Last gasp (literally) for the trail to the Bristlecone grove. Yep! That’s me
The Bristlecones at the top were magical. Such amazing trees!
Bristlecone Trail
🥾 2.8 miles round trip
⛰️ About 600 feet elevation gain
📍 Starts around 9,890 feet*
⭐ Moderate
*The elevation is worth remembering. Even a moderate trail feels different when you're starting at nearly 10,000 feet.
After the hike to the Bristlecones, there is an opportunity to hike an additional several miles to see the remains of a glacier, but my niece, ever the trooper, was tired so, again a plan for next time.
We headed back down and had a picnic lunch before heading out of the park toward what looked to be an interesting archeological site nearby. We followed the road to the advertised archaeological site and discovered...Desert.
Lots and lots of desert.
The Archaeological Site That Wasn't Quite There 😂:
There were interpretive signs explaining what had once been there, but very little of it remains visible today.
For a history nerd and budding archaeologist? Interesting.
For the average visitor expecting ruins?
This one might be a little underwhelming. 😂
The interpretive booklet, though small, assisted in making sense of the site and discussing its importance.
In Search of a Ghost Town
We then decided to check out the “ghost town” that was advertised near the stretch of Highway 50 leading into the park. We took yet another dirt road (thank God for my Subaru’s all-wheel drive) into some pretty rough terrain.
We followed a washed-out, bumpy road about 5 miles and found that Osceola was on private property! We saw what we could through a high gate and found a cemetery that was surrounded by barbed wire and left a little disappointed. We killed time exploring Ely a bit until returning at 7 when we were scheduled for a stargazing program with a ranger. We missed the ranger's stargazing talk when a storm rolled through that evening.
But later, the clouds began to break.
And then we looked up.
Oh. My. God.
Great Basin is famous for its exceptionally dark skies, but knowing that and actually standing underneath them are two entirely different things.
Even through intermittent clouds, we could see the Milky Way with our own eyes.
After caves, ancient trees, dirt roads, archaeological mysteries and one failed attempt at finding a ghost town, we ended the day standing under a sky filled with stars.
Not a bad day at all.
