These caves are located in The Great Basin National Park. You need to go to the Lehman Caves…read moreVisitor Center. This is a different location from The Great Basin Visitor Center. In order to visit the caves, you need to purchase a ticket (which is also your reservation) and a National Park Entry Pass of some sort. I purchased my tickets for the Parachute Shield Tour online at the recreation.gov website. I got a Senior ticket ($6) & a regular ticket ($12). There is no additional fee. When I went to check-in, I presented my ticket confirmation email and my National Park Pass. The tour is about an our long. It is said that Absalom S. Lehman discovered the caves when riding his horse. The horse broke through a crust covering the cave's natural entrance. No one really knows for sure who discovered the cave or how. Lehman Caves was designated Lehman Caves National Monument before it became part of The Great Basin National Park. We gathered at a door that looked like the right door. It was the right place to be at, but not the one we used. The Ranger met us here and instructed us to use the shoe washing station. After we all washed the soles of our shoes, we all walked up the hill to a different door to begin our descent into the cave. It's the same door we exited from at the end of the tour. The first room we arrived at was the Lodge Room. Then we walked through a man-made walkway called "The Panama Canal" which led us to the next room, The Inscription Room. Here, you can see where the explorers belly crawled through "Fat Man's Misery" (natural entrance) to get here. When they made it to the Inscription Room, they used the soot from their flame to inscribe their name on the ceiling. To get to the Grand Palace, we walked on the path called "The Rocky Road" which took us past the Lake Room & Cypress Swamp. Our tour ended at the Sunken Garden. To exit, we retraced our paths back to where we entered. We toured these rooms: Lodge Room Inscription Room - has names & dates on the ceiling Cypress Swamp - many stalactites suspended from the low ceiling resemble a swamp full of Cypress Trees Lake Room - named for the small, year-round pool to the side Grand Palace - the largest room on the tour and absolutely wondrous Sunken Garden - deepest part of the cave at about 235 ft below the surface. There's a viewing platform here. The Grand Palace is where you'll see the cave bacon, stalactites and stalagmites that almost touch, this tour's namesake, the Parachute Shield, and other points of interest. Lehman Caves boasts of shield formations, most iconic is the Parachute Shield which is pictured on souvenirs. While most other caves have a couple shield formations, Lehman Caves amazingly has more than 500. Just before the end of our tour, the ranger asked if our group wanted to experience the cave pitch black. We all agreed and the lights were turned off for a minute or two. It was pretty eery, the silence and darkness. Once the lights were back on, we walked out of the cave. This was a very fascinating tour. They say that each time you enter the cave, the experience will be different. If we ever come back here, I'd be willing to take the tour again!

Lehman Caves is a small part of the experience when exploring Great Basin National Park. It's…read morelocated 6 miles from the entrance and just past Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive which takes you to the summit of Great Basin. Since Lehman Caves are done by guided tours with park rangers at specific times, I'd suggest signing up for a tour and checking off going inside the caves in the morning and then having the remainder of the day to drive to Wheeler Peak and do some hiking at your own leisure. This way you're not held hostage to taking an afternoon tour and having to keep an eye on the clock. There are two types of Lehman Cave tours. - Gothic Palace - 30 minutes - $8 fee - 10:30am, 1:30pm - no reservation needed - Lodge Room - 60 minutes - $12 fee - 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm - reservation required. 9:30am, 12:30pm - no reservation needed Reservations for cave tours can be made online at recreation.gov. Spontaneously walking up for day of tours can be made at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center which again is situated 6 miles into Great Basin Park and just past Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. Here's the gist from my experiences... During my first visit to Great Basin back in 2019, I enjoyed seeing the 60 minute Lodge Room. It was a photogenic cave from my recollections. I recommended it at the time. Now for my return visit back in September of 2024, I tried the 30 minute Gothic Palace and was disappointed. You enter one simple room. The hanging walls of stalagmites and stalactites aren't so dramatic. And for a quick 30 minute tour, half the time is spent reviewing rules and procedures. Yes, the ranger turns out the lights for a few moments and gives you a few minutes to capture a few photos. My thoughts were...."I'd rather be hiking at the top of Wheeler Peak." So I guess what I'm trying to say is...choose the 60 minute Lodge Room tour over Gothic Palace. But either way for me....caves are just not my thing, yet I still return to them as I'm a glutton for punishment, lol. Extra notes... - Average cave temperatures are 52 degrees. - No touching the walls due to oils from your hands. - Before entering, you'll wipe the soles of your shoes in a liquid to prevent the spread of disease to the resident bats. - When you complete the tour, you can consider walking the Mountain View Nature Trail for 1/3rd of a mile which starts beside the cave entrance/exit. Though...this nature trail has zero to offer. You're better off getting onto Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive ASAP. Overall, Great Basin NP is host to a variety of natural wonders and ecosystems including ancient bristlecone pine trees, alpine lakes, cascading streams, craggy mountain peaks, a lone standing glacier, adventurous hiking trails and these Lehman Caves. You can include a guided cave tour as part of your journey but in my opinion, you wouldn't be missing anything special if you decide to opt out and simply get started exploring the park on your own terms.

Great Basin National Park is a relatively small portion of the Great Basin as a whole. There is no…read moreNational Park entrance fee required to visit. Per Google: "The Great Basin is a large, arid region in the western United States, defined by its geography and centered on Nevada. It is situated between the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east. The region includes most of Nevada, about half of Utah, and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, and California." While planning our visit, I looked on the nps.gov website, I saw that there are cave tours. I signed up for the Lehman Cave Parachute Shield Tour. The tickets are purchased from recreation.gov website. We started off with a visit to the Great Basin Visitor Center where we looked at exhibits and got a general feel for the area. We bought a few small souvenirs and were on our way! I must say that the park was super beautiful with the changing of the leaves! Parts of the mountains were lit up with red & gold foliage! We drove the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive all the way to the Wheeler Peak Overlook. Go slow-ish and enjoy the views! We stopped by: Osceola Ditch Trail - was a man-made waterway used for mining Wheeler Peak Summit Trail Summit Trailhead Bristlecone-Alpine Lakes Trailhead Mather Overlook Wheeler Peak Overlook - end of the scenic drive and has an awesome view of [yes!] Wheeler Peak Wheeler Peak Overlook is the final destination of the scenic drive. There are stops along the drive. Since we weren't hiking, we stopped at most of the pull-outs and parking lots. Wheeler Peak stands at 13,063 feet and is the second tallest point in Nevada! There are viewing scopes you can use to get a closer look! We made a quick stop at Mather Overlook. You can see Wheeler Peak from here as well. This overlook is named for Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service (NPS). There's a cool bronze relief map of the Wheeler cirque. Then we drove back down to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center for our tour. The tour was very informative and was roughly an hour long. We stayed in Ely, NV which suited our needs. Baker, NV seemed pretty desolate from what I saw driving on the NV-487. Great Basin National Park is fairly remote compared to other National Parks, but definitely worth coming out to visit at least once!

This review is for Baker Creek Loop which was a ~3.5 miles round trip that took ~2 hours to…read morecomplete. With the unexpected closure of the last 10 miles of Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, we had no choice but to do a different hike in the area. Baker Creek Loop was a scenic forest trail with a meadow halfway through. Starting the trail clockwise; trail was an incline up the mountain and a decline back down to the aspen forest. Fall colored aspens were prominent at the start and end of the trail! Wooden bridges were slippery with ice. Decent sized parking area at the trailhead. Restroom available at the parking lot. Required to drive on gravel road for ~3 miles. Short video of the hike for those interested! https://youtu.be/gmfUHF9BAc0

Came here for a sunrise presentation today by NP Ranger Steve as part of the 2015 Astronomy…read moreFestival. The site itself is a bit underwhelming as they excavations were re-filled and the outlines of the excavated lots "interpretively restored", so all you really see is the outlines of a cluster of mounds a short walk from the covered picnic and parking area. The sunrise, however, was absolutely breathtaking! A fabulous viewpoint to see the dawn break into day with the first crest of the sun over a postcard-worth panorama of mountain along the horizon line!

So if you don't score a Great Basin National Park campsite (which are all first-come-first-served…read morebtw), fret not because a mile up the road there is BLM Land and *plenty* of room right next to Baker Village Archaeological Site. We parked there overnight and had the vast expanse completely to ourselves. Perfectly flat, absolutely silent, and completely fee-free. We visited in mid-September and had stunningly beautiful weather (50's overnight, high 70's during the day), YMMV. I imagine it can be windy and coooold in this area and in that case tent camping would be ambitious (we were in an RV). Picnic tables and a rest room are available. Short walk to the Baker Village, an exhibit that was excavated in the early 90's, occupied by Native Americans in the 1200s, thought to be related to the Anasazi people, now referred to as the Fremont Tribe - though why it's named after a white euro American male is bewildering. Worth a quick stop if you're passing through the area, allow a half hour.

This is a great spot to stay if you're visiting Great Basin National Park. The staff was incredibly…read moreaccomodating. Thank you for letting us check in an hour early! The suite was very, very clean. The grounds were well maintained with a family of deer and turkey! The gravel road to get into the canyon would be easier to travel with a high clearance vehicle. Don't count on cell phone service while you're there, but you won't need it. Plenty of space to lounge, swim, or walk the grounds. The scenery is beautiful. Loved watching the sunrise and sunset here. They also have a great selection of food, drinks, and other items at their market. Loved staying here!

This place is AWESOME! From beginning to end we had a wonderful stay. Staying in the canyon was…read moresuper beautiful. There is a staircase built into it that you can climb up and view the sunset which we really enjoyed. The owner was so friendly and helpful. We got a breakfast credit to use in the market and were surprised at how much it got us! The rooms were very clean and cozy. All of the lights are turned off at 9:45 pm to be able to view the dark sky and it was truly epic. The commute to Great Basin is about 20 minutes so it was super convenient for us to stay here. Can't recommend this place enough! I hope to go back some day.

Talk about EPIC‼ My friend & myself drove into Elko Nevada to go snowmobiling & boy was this the…read moreTime of our life! I was nervous because i had never been snowmobiling but Jason & Joe were more than helpful with tips on how to handle the snow mobile & it eased my mind knowing that as we were riding we wouldn't get lost in the sauce or left behind because their was always a guide in the front & back of us . Towards the end I definetly let loose a lot on the snow mobile in the beginning I actually ended up falling off of it one time but Joe had already prepared of what to do if this shall happen so I didn't panic too bad! The scenery was beautiful as we rode in & thru the mountains they kept us on pretty smooth trails for the most part being that we were beginners & we enjoyed every bit of it ! Once we finished Jason had us lunch that his wife had prepared sandwiches , soup , & Joe kept us stuffed with Reese cups as dessert it was hilarious ! I reccomend to anyone that hasn't been snowmobiling atleast do it one time in your lifetime!

Booked a snowmobile tour with this company as we were driving into Elko. We wanted to spend some…read moretime having fun and enjoying the mountains. It was very short notice but they fit us in. Very professional group. Willing to accommodate all our needs. Excellent equipment and guides, Jason and Mitch are wonderful. We even got a fabulous lunch that Jason's wife prepared for us. Ruby mountain is sooo beautiful, a lot of snow and a lot of fun. A perfect adventure. We even saw a ram!!

We stopped by this afternoon to check out this little gem and was so glad we did…read more Julie greeted us with a warm smile and a bubbly personality. She was so helpful and got us started in the right direction to view the museum. There are a lot of eclectic artifacts everything from mining to WW2 to various school artifacts and turn of the century agricultural equipment. We spent a couple hours or so in there viewing everything. The outside is deceiving as it looks so small but there is so much to see inside. The cost is a very humble donation of a minimum of $5. Well worth it to see so much history. Not only of Ely and surrounding areas, but of various historical events not specific to Ely. (Newspaper of the Titanic Disaster and Newspaper of the end of WW2 etc) If you're in the area, please do give this little museum a look. Very interesting indeed.

I really enjoyed my visit here. There is so much to see that you could spend hours looking at all…read morethe things and reading the many descriptions. I started outside--the woman explained I could do it either of two ways--so I chose outdoors first. I was amazed when I saw an 1870s Keystone well drill. My father was a water well driller in Pennsylvania and I grew up around this kind of equipment, but I never knew that there was one that was made a lot from wood. I don't think I would have been as comfortable climbing that derrick as I was with the metal rungs I had to climb. There are Nevada Northern railroad cars, the former depot for Ely, a one room schoolhouse and so much more. The schoolhouse was interesting for me. I can't imagine teaching 10-15 kids in one room that might be 7 or 8 different years in age. Inside, there are geological items, a section of old medicine bottles, Shoshone items, and the recreation of a giant short-faced Nevada bear. I didn't even know such an animal existed. A good stop. A plus was the woman told me the McGill Drugstore was open and she gave me the hours.