Great Basin National Park? Or just head to the high desert….

I was there last summer with a bunch of my high school students on the way to Yosemite. Awesome place and there are some great hiking trails up to Wheeler peak and also to the Bristlecone pines. Showers available in the little tiny town where you turn into the entrance, and a nice bar/icecream place down there too. I've never been in the cave but that's probably worth a look too. Guided tours only. All in all I think it's an awesome park. It's amazing to watch the change in habitats as you climb up out of the desert and approach the peak.

Last July, we car camped for two nights in Great Basin National Park. We arrived on a Tuesday afternoon, expecting to have our pick of campsites, since that was our experience almost 20 years earlier.

Instead, we spent three hours driving all over the park looking for a campsite. We snagged the next-to-last campsite available on a two-wheel-drive gravel road at Baker Creek. We had a great time day hiking around the bristlecone pines with plenty of other day hikers, and hanging around the creeks. Wish I could spend a few days backpacking there.

Probably less crowded in early June. Suggest talking to the park rangers about backcountry conditions.

Lots of brand-new facilities at GBNP, some under construction while we were there. Ranger said the funds came from BLM selling land near Las Vegas to commercial developers, and the money went into park projects all over southern Nevada.

Zion is nice, too, but likely to be even more crowded. I vote for Great Basin.

— Rex

Glad to hear it's park worth the trip!

Called the park today and talked to a ranger. Funny how 'small' this park is compared to other parks I've dealt with – first ring a really nice ranger picks up the phone with a "Hello" (compared to calling SEKI or Yosemite where you're being transferred all over the place). The ranger I talked to was incredibly helpful, and she said that they're actually still really socked in with snow there and the trail access for backpacking is really limited right now (unless you're up for a snowy trek).

She suggested I car camp and do some shorter day hikes. One tip she did give me is that Strawberry Creek campground usually always has availability due to it's entry outside of the main park entrance (and not having water) – and also that the BLM land around the park has open camping.

I've decided I'll take advantage of the early season and head to Zion before it gets too unbearably hot, and I'll save Great Basin for a snow-free time!

There’s a forum member that lives right next to GBNP who could give you some advice when you decide to visit. Looks like he’s not been active but he did reply to my PM a year ago.