Great Basin is one of the less-visited national parks, but when we visited during the annual Astronomy Festival in September, we knew we might have a little more trouble finding a campsite inside the park. None of the campgrounds in Great Basin are reservable ahead of time. We aimed to camp at Upper or Lower Lehman Creek Campgrounds, located near the entrance of the park, and after driving through the lower campground with no luck, we snagged the last site at Upper Lehman Creek. The sites here are nicely spread out and nestled in plenty of vegetation, and we had no issues with noise even though we camped on what might be the busiest weekend in Great Basin.

Like most other national park campgrounds, Upper Lehman Creek provided just the basic amenities: flush toilets, water, and picnic tables. We’d gladly take this rustic setting over other over commercialized campgrounds.

Although Great Basin takes a lot of work to access -- it truly is in the middle of nowhere -- this park is a hidden gem. We especially enjoyed climbing Wheeler Peak (the second-highest point in Nevada), walking among the Bristlecone trees (the oldest trees in the world), taking the tour of Lehman Caves, and attending various activities at the Astronomy Festival. There’s little sense of being “on the beaten path” anywhere here, but if you want to get even further away from people, the Johnson Lake/Baker Lake 11-mile loop trail was also a great loop hike. 

The only downside, besides being located in the middle of nowhere, is that sites at Upper Lehman Creek campground are not reservable, so be sure to arrive early enough in the day to grab a site, especially if you are visiting during peak weekends.

You can read much more about our four days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Great Basin)