Summary
Current Protection
National Park
Management Agency
United States National Park Service
Year Protected
1986
Total Area
77,100 Acres
Great Basin National Park was established on October 27, 1986 with the intention "to preserve for the benefit and inspiration of the people a representative segment of the Great Basin of the Western United States possessing outstanding resources and significant geological and scenic values." Great Basin National Park was selected because it includes exceptional examples of Great Basin geological, geographical, and biological diversity, and presents scenic grander that is unsurpassed in the region. The South Snake Range within Great Basin National Park includes five life zones, from the upper sonoran sagebrush communities at the foot of the range to Arctic alpine tundra atop the Wheeler Crest. Wheeler Peak is the second tallest mountain in Nevada, towering to 13,063 feet, an elevation change reaching to 5,000 feet above the surrounding valleys.
Great Basin National park was designated an International Dark Sky Park in 2016. Friends of Nevada Wilderness works closely with Great Basin National Park to protect the natural resources of the park and to promote Dark Skies for the park and the surrounding public lands.
Wheeler Peak September 1953 Richard Sill (UNR Special Collections)
Great Basin National Park is the traditional homeland of both the Goshute and Newe (Western Shoshone) people who have been living on and with these lands for countless generations. The Swamp Cedars in the Spring Valley, to the west of Great Basin National Park, is an important cultural landscape and meeting place for both Goshute and Shoshone people. It is also the site of several 19th century conflicts between Whites and Native Americans which were critical for displacing the native people and resulted in the killing and massacre of a number of Native Americans.
Agency Information
Managing Agency: United States National Park Service
Address: 100 Great Basin National Park Baker, NV 89311
Phone: 775-234-7331