Great Basin NP, NV – Definitely off the beaten track

Trip in Planning – September 2015

We want to be in Salt Lake City for our son’s high school football game one weekend in September and want to be in Las Vegas the following weekend for our sailing group annual planning meeting. There’s lots of pretty scenery along the way, so it’s time for a road trip!

It’s only a six hour drive from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas if you go straight down I-15, but we have a 4 day window so it’s the perfect opportunity get off the highway to explore. Zion National Park is always remarkable, but we’ve been there several times. Consulting a road atlas, we spy Great Basin National Park in Eastern Nevada with scenic routes coming and going. We’ll travel on Highway 6 across western Utah and stay in the town of Baker, NV for a couple nights near the park. Great Basin is known for its mountain vistas, caves, wildlife, and bristlecone pines (some of the oldest trees on earth). After the National Park, we’ll continue south on Highway 93 in Nevada, probably stopping at Cathedral Gorge State Park before arriving in Vegas.

We found a place to stay in Baker, NV, but someone sure would be busy if they opened a moderately nice motel or bed n breakfast there! Slim, poorly reviewed, pickings.

Any must-do hikes or other excursions in and around Great Basin National Park or eastern Nevada? Please let us know.

We have an interesting home exchange option in Mesquite, Nevada and Tom’s twitching to play golf there, so we’ll be in Mesquite before and after our Vegas meeting!  While Tom plays golf, Sheila will likely be working on RTG, so let her know if there are Mesquite sites she shouldn’t miss.

Here are some Pins we found on Pinterest.
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