Great Basin National Park

thumb|Great Basin National Park aerial view

Great Basin National Park is a national park of the United States located in White Pine County in east-central Nevada, near the Utah border. Established in 1986, the park is most commonly entered by way of Nevada State Route 488, which is connected to U.S. Routes 6 and 50 by Nevada State Route 487 via the small town of Baker, the closest settlement.

The park derives its name from the Great Basin, the dry and mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Mountains. Topographically, this area is known as the Basin and Range Province. The park is located about north of Las Vegas and protects .

A number of developed campsites are within the park, as well as backcountry camping opportunities. The Highland Ridge Wilderness lies adjacent to Great Basin National Park. These two protected areas provide contiguous wildlife habitat and protection to of eastern Nevada's basin lands.

Natural history

Flora

thumb|left|Conifers thrive at middle elevations of Wheeler Peak.

Eleven species of conifer trees and over 800 species of plants are found in Great Basin National Park and the neighboring valleys.

The area around the Visitor Center is dominated by plants such as sagebrush, saltbush, single-leaf pinyon, and Utah juniper. Higher elevations are home to mountain meadows, white fir, quaking aspen, Engelmann spruce, and large Ponderosa pine. At treeline is an alpine area of low, delicate plants and rocky outcroppings. There are several endemic species of plants that are found in the park, some of which include Mt. Wheeler sandwort and Holgrem's buckwheat.

thumb|right|Pinus longaeva

The oldest nonclonal organism ever discovered, a Great Basin bristlecone pine tree at least 5,000 years old, grew at the treeline near Wheeler Peak in the national park. It was cut down in 1964 by a graduate student and U.S. Forest Service personnel for research purposes. It was given the nickname Prometheus, after the mythological figure who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man.

Fauna

Sixty-one species of mammals, 18 species of reptiles, 238 species of birds, two species of amphibians, and eight species of fish are in Great Basin National Park and the neighboring valleys.

;Mammals

thumb|right|Townsend's big-eared bat

An abundance of wildlife has taken advantage of the habitat zones in Great Basin National Park. Jackrabbits, pygmy rabbits, mountain cottontails, ground squirrels, chipmunks, and various mice live in the low-elevation sagebrush desert. Pronghorns, coyotes, kit foxes, and badgers are less common inhabitants.

In the more rugged areas on the slopes of mountains and in the valley areas nearby, cougars, bobcats, marmots, rock squirrels, and bighorn sheep can occasionally be seen throughout this park. Other animals that can be found here include elk, mule deer, spotted skunks, shrews, ringtail cats, and ermine.

;Birds

Many species of birds can be found in Great Basin National Park, including Canada geese, hawks, sparrows, bald eagles, tundra swans, barn owls, snow geese, killdeer, golden eagles, woodpeckers, mallards, wrens, greater roadrunners, chickadees, great horned owls, ravens, magpies, and swallows.

;Amphibians

Only two species of amphibians have been positively identified in the southern Snake Range and adjacent portions of Snake and Spring Valleys: the western spadefoot toad (Spea hammondii) and the leopard frog (Rana pipiens).

Geology

thumb|Park map<br>(click map to enlarge)

Many of the rocks were formed during the Cambrian, when the region lay at the edge of a continental landmass called Laurentia. These rocks include the Cambrian strata. As the Paleozoic era progressed, several intensified geologic events occurred, including repeated episodes of faulting, and in turn, orogenies which involved upward lifting of a metamorphic core complex, creating mafic and rhyolitic dikes and sills.

Extensive volcanism also occurred during the middle to late Cambrian, contributing further to the uplift of the area. This also contributed to a second round of block faulting, in which conglomerates, ash flows, and tuffs accumulated in the Snake Range.

thumb|left|Wheeler Peak

Both continuous and intermittent fault movements also occurred, with individual fault surfaces on both sides of the Snake Range thinning and stretching. The cave is about two miles long, making it the longest known cave in Nevada. The park offers two different tours of the cave: a 0.6-mile long tour which lasts approximately 90 minutes and a 0.4 mile tour which lasts approximately 60 minutes.

Other animals use the cave, but must leave to forage for food. These include chipmunks, mice, pack rats, and several species of bats. Only insectivorous bats occur in the Great Basin. At least 10 species of bats have been found in the vicinity of Great Basin National Park, including the Townsend's big-eared bat.

thumb|Lexington Arch is 13 miles from [[Utah State Route 21 and one of the largest limestone arches in the western United States.]]

Trails

The park has 12 trails ranging from . Trails range from short nature trails at (Mountain View Nature Trail), to the Wheeler summit trail starting at . The Forgotten Winchester, a rifle manufactured in 1882 that was found leaning against a juniper tree in the park in 2014, is on display inside the Great Basin visitor center. Both centers feature exhibits about the park's geology and natural and cultural history, as well as theaters with orientation films.

The park lies in an arid region and receives very little rainfall during most of the year. Most precipitation is winter snow or summer thunderstorms. All precipitation in this region evaporates, sinks underground, or flows into lakes — i.e., it is endorheic. No water reaches the ocean.

Winters are cool and summers are mild to hot. Weather can change quickly, especially in the back country or on Wheeler Peak at high elevations.

Lehman Caves maintain a fairly constant temperature of with 90% humidity year round.

The climate varies throughout the park, depending on elevation and location. The following data are for the Lehman Caves Visitor Center only. Higher elevations are cooler and receive more precipitation, whereas lower elevations are hotter and drier.

References

External links

Park photo gallery – National Park Service on Flickr
Johnson Lake Mine – National Park Service
Winchester Model 1873 Rifle Recovered in Great Basin National Park – National Park Service, official press release