DEBORAH WALL: Explore caves, night skies at park

Great Basin National Park doesn't get its fair share of visitors, but that's all the better for the enlightened few who get to enjoy it without fighting any crowds. Deep summer is the best time to go there, when its high elevation provides the cool temperatures so longingly sought by hikers and campers from Southern Nevada.

Nevada's only national park, it offers plenty to do. Besides hiking and camping, there are guided tours of Lehman Caves, a complex of limestone caverns with some formations found in few others, and the astronomy programs are especially rewarding.

If you have only a day, or even a half day, I'd say the activities most worth your time are taking a Lehman Cave tour and taking the 12-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, an 8 percent grade that takes you through many life zones as it climbs ever higher and provides great views of Wheeler Peak and the surrounding area.

But if you have a couple of days, I would recommend hitting a few of the developed trails. There are more than 60 miles of them, so on the first day, you might try some of the easier ones to become acclimated to the high elevation before tackling the more strenuous. Two I especially like for acclimatization are the 2.8-mile round-trip Bristlecone Trail and the 2.7-mile Alpine Lakes Loop Trail. Each has an elevation gain of about 600 feet. Both trailheads are near the entrance of the Wheeler Peak Campground.

The best-known hike, the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail, also is one of the most challenging. There are two choices of trailheads, but if you are camping at the Wheeler Peak Campground it is easiest to start there, from the Alpine Pond Trailhead. From 9,886 feet, you will climb about 3,075 feet over about four miles to Wheeler Peak.

The summit affords spectacular views east into Utah. To the west lies Spring Valley and to the north, the Northern Snake Range. Start this trail early to avoid the risk of afternoon thunderstorms. Since this hike is a strenuous one and at a high elevation, be sure to be on the alert for high-altitude sickness.

There are five developed campgrounds, and each has a picnic table, tent pad and campfire grill. There also are vault toilets available. All camping is on a first-come, first-served basis, except for the Grey Cliffs Group Campground. During holiday periods and weekends, be sure to get there early.

If you plan to hike up to Wheeler Peak, then the Wheeler Peak Campground is the place to stay. It has 37 campsites, with one accessible site. In mid-summer, average daytime high temperatures are usually in the 70s, with nights in the 40s. Camping at the Wheeler Peak Campground often wraps up in late September as snow comes early in these parts.

Even if you're there for the wide-open scenery, it's worth investing some time underground at Lehman Caves. You will be treated to stalagmites, stalactites, helictites and more than 300 rare shield formations.

There are two tours available every day: the 60-minute Lodge Room Tour and the 90-minute Grand Palace Tour. Each is offered four times a day through Sept. 7, and a more limited schedule is in effect the rest of the year. Reservations are highly recommended and can be purchased by calling 775-234-7331, Monday-Friday. Reservations are not accepted by phone the day of the tour. If tours are not full, you can sign up at the visitor center. The cave is a constant 50 degrees. White-Nose Syndrome is such a serious threat to hibernating bats that White-Nose Syndrome screening is now mandatory for all visitors.

With the park's high elevation, low humidity and low pollution, night skies in this area are some of the darkest in the nation, perfect for star gazing. Astronomy programs run Wednesday and Saturday nights through August. The program takes place at 8:30 p.m. at the Lehman Cave Visitor Center. Astronomers will introduce you to the spectacular night skies and have many types of telescopes on hand for viewing. Participants will have the chance to see stars, planets, nebulae and galaxies.

Deborah Wall is the author of "Great Hikes, A Cerca Country Guide" and "Base Camp Las Vegas: Hiking the Southwestern States," published by Stephens Press. She can be reached at deborabus@aol.com.