Great Basin National Park Traverse

Have you heard of Great Basin National Park? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe you saw the sign for the turnoff while driving down I-15 to vacation in Bryce or Zion or the Grand Canyon or any of the other mega-gems of the American Southwest. Maybe you’re guessing that it’s in Utah because you remember that Utah has some random National Park that no one ever visits because there are so many other National Parks. But if you guessed Utah, you’d be wrong - you’d be thinking of Capitol Reef National Park. Great Basin National Park is actually in Nevada. Who knew?

Admittedly, Lauren and I didn’t know much about the park before setting off to walk across it. But we did know that it had some interesting-looking ridgeline, that it was filled with ancient bristlecones, and that we ought to go check it out.

Last year I began poking around to see if anyone had created a line that traversed the entirety of the park. From photos and maps, it seemed fairly straightforward, non-technical and gorgeous – perfect ingredients for a day well spent. There’s something very satisfying about traversing a defined place, and over the years I’ve been drawn to connecting the dots across many prominent mountain ridges (WURL, Alpine Ridge, BURL, Antelope Island, Stansbury) and parks (R2R2R, Bryce, Yosemite High Route). It’s also arguably the best way to see a wild place.

While searching online for information on what would become the Great Basin National Park Traverse, I found others who had drawn similar lines, but deviated from the ideas I had in some big way. A blog by Seeking Ultra told the story of a ridge-loop that went over a lot of the terrain in question with relative ease. Another traverse of several peaks was well documented by Stav is Lost. And then there’s Ryan Silva, aka Dirtmonger, who crafted a 1,100-mile loop of the entire Great Basin that he calls the Great Basin Traverse and that shares some of the same trails here.

No doubt, many have crossed this crest in a similar fashion, but it was a joy to dive into Caltopo and the map-building process, visualize and draw a line, and have a real adventure with limited information and a host of variables. To add to the traverse of the national park, we extended the route across Highland Ridge Wilderness, which seemed to be a logical place to end given that we were on the Highland Ridge while in the park. Plus, when drawn on the map, it created a very satisfying bookend across public lands.

Overall, I would call the traverse a premium route on a wonderful crest that doesn’t see a lot of traffic or get a lot of love. And – that will likely always be why people who travel here love it.

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Below is a photo recap with some additional information on the Great Basin National Park Traverse. If you decide to head out there, please do enjoy yourself.

Total Stats: 32 miles and around 13,000’ of vertical gain

Great Basin National Park is pretty low-key. Getting to the start of the route, we hopped on a series of dirt roads that took us through BLM lands south of US-6 and Sacramento Pass. After several turns and a few cattle gates, we arrived in a pasture that would end up being the end of our road. We grabbed our packs and set off toward the northernmost border of the park, which was delightfully unofficial.

In hindsight, one could also access this starting point by driving down the more official Strawberry Creek Road and backtracking a short distance to this ancient sign.

After debating whether to run the route or backpack it, we had opted for the slower and heavier option, which gave us more flexibility if we were moving slow or if the route did not go. Depending on one’s experience moving fast off-trail, either mode of travel is a mighty fine mode.

The first mile of the trek follows an old double track turned single track by neglect. It’s distinctly high desert and hosts a variety of sage, juniper and other desert flora. After a bit, one can head cross country and pick up the Strawberry Ridge trail that winds through aspen groves to the crest of the Snake Range.

As we gawked and photographed the golden aspens, we heard the mating calls of more and more elk as we neared the ridgeline. Eventually, we would see dozens of bulls battling and cows wailing in their seasonal rut madness. It was very impressive.

Coming out of the aspen grove we stayed on the ridge, which offered a steep and direct route to the summit of our first peak, 11,496’ Bald Mountain. Travel was relatively easy going up Bald, hiking on talus underfoot.

From the summit weather tower, we gazed at Nevada’s second-highest mountain - 13,159′ Wheeler Peak.

The descent off of Bald and over to Wheeler was a breeze, thanks in part to the prospect of being able to hop on an established trail for at least a couple of miles. The trail up Wheeler was straightforward and full of happy hikers heading up and down. These would be the only people we would see all weekend.

Looking back on Bald Mountain and the brilliant golden aspens

After snacking up on our journey’s high point, we continued weaving along the crest of the Snake Range. Our next stop was 12,297’ Baker Peak, an off-trail hop, skip and a jump away.

From Baker, we looked across at Pyramid Peak (11,926’) and the idyllic knife-edge that stood in our way. While slow going, the ridge was almost entirely class two. Comfort with exposure is certainly required, but that’s about it.

When we reached Pyramid Peak, it was decision time. Johnson Lake, a 700’ drop off the ridge, was our only planned water stop of the trip. We were only 13 miles into the journey, but darkness was fast approaching (sunset was at 6 pm) and we knew we wanted to sleep in a protected pocket. Ultimately, we decided the lake was the right move for some high-quality R&R.

Day 2 sunrise over our home for the night/water resupply

We rose with the sun on our second day and climbed back out of our honey hole home and towards the beloved ridge. Dripping in warm morning light, we walked on rocks and over a few more tall friends – Peak 11,772 and Johnson Peak (11,775’)

During the route building process, maps showed a ridge trail during this portion of the trek called “Baker Creek Trail”. I told Lauren all about this wonderful trail. But make no mistake, there is no trail here. However, the ridge provides clean passage and the route is intuitive. This distinction is important if you, like me, say to your partner “everything today is on trail!” This would be a lie.

It’s hard to say what the highlight of the route was, but Mt. Washington was surely one of them. Completely different from the rest of the range, it boasts dramatic limestone cliffs and a magnificent bristlecone pine grove.

After Washington (11,658’) one drops down through more bristlecone and limber pine to a forested saddle at the base of the final summit – 11,560’ Mt Lincoln. We pushed on through the forest and eventually popped out on the ridge of this surely neglected mountain. A faint path of crumbly rock took us to the top, where we celebrated the end of our climbing and prepared for the descent.

Talus and scree soon gave way to tundra and we opened it up as we cruised down the Highland Ridge “Trail”. Again, this was more of a passage, made apparent by a few missteps and re-routes.

The last of the day’s off-trail travel before finding seven miles of dirt road

We hit the trailhead after six miles of combination bushwhacking/game trail hopping through the southern leg of Great Basin National Park and the beginning of the Highlands Ridge Wilderness. With the end finally in sight, we jogged down Johns and Murphy Wash as aspens quickly turned to high desert once again. Temperatures rose back into the high 80’s as our 30lb packs bounced on sunburnt shoulders.

Cold beer and a 5-gallon water jug welcomed weary bones as we licked our wounds and smiled in giddy reflection.

Thank you Great Basin National Park. Until next time—

Sean RyanSeptember 29, 2021