Great Basin National Park

Brief stop in Nevada!

After driving late into the night to get to Great Basin, we camped for the night on some BLM land not far away, and woke up bright and early in the morning to see the park!

Sadly, this park is pretty much entirely closed this time of year. The visitor's center is closed, the campgrounds are closed, and the scenic drive is closed. So we drove up to the gate, took some pictures, took some videos, stopped at the restrooms (the VC restrooms were very fortunately open) and headed out. Honestly we weren't too disappointed as nothing we had read about in this park sounded too compelling, and Zion is waiting!

Personnel:
As the ranger was locking the VC door the ranger pointed us to the restroom providing us with effective and timely information. We appreciated this.

Climate/weather:
We were very excited, this was the first location with verified snow on the ground! Woohoo! Winter is coming! It was also a bit cool temperature wise, and the wind was starting to become a major cooling factor in our lives (this trend continued throughout the day).

Facilities/signage:
The bathrooms were clean and well stocked (and open!). The signs were also adequate and unremarkable.

Hiking experience:
Limited... we walked into the woods out of sight of the road, took our pictures, then walked back to the car... it is hard when everything is closed.

Driving experience:

It was OK, we were able to drive a few miles up the scenic road before the gate, and there were some good views, but nothing remarkable.

Camping options:
There were a couple campgrounds, but they were both closed.

Hammockability:
There were actually quite a few trees, I think it would be feasible, but it was cold and windy, so the time of the year might not have been ideal.

Scenery:
It wasn't bad, but after coming through Utah it was just not inspiring.

Nearby food:
There is a tiny town not far away that has a few limited restaurant options... but it is also pretty run down and sketchy...

As you may or may not have gathered, this was not our favorite park. To be fair, we couldn't experience a lot of it because it was all closed, but there was nothing that inspired us to want to come back. There is a cave tour here during non-winter seasons, and there are hiking options, so if you are in the area it has things to do, but in winter it is probably not worth the drive.

Next stop: Zion, so excited!