Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive Trails

The Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive highlighted in blue will lead you to the highest reaches of the park.

NPS

The magnificent Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive dominates many visits at Great Basin National Park. Twelve miles of mountain road leads to an elevation of 10,000 feet, trails to alpine lakes, a grove of the famed Ancient Bristlecone Pines, and the second highest point in Nevada. Difficulties vary from some of the easiest park trails to the hardest, and altitude sickness is an ever-present danger, even for those from high altitude.

Beware trailhead traffic jams, as on busy & holiday weekends the parking lot may fill, meaning alternative hikes will be your best bet for finding the solitude parks can provide. Come with your patience and with alternatives in mind!

Alpine and sub-alpine environments are some of the most sensitive ecological zones in the park and damage can come easily in the form of an errant step on a sensitive plant, a startling rockfall, or avalanches in the winter. Please take care to remain on trail and beware the dangers that come with the solitude found in these mountains.

Find information on trails below, and click on a specific trail for more in depth information, a trail map, and helpful tips.

Directions to the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive

The Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive is accessed via Highway 488, within the national park boundary. The road is a paved, 12 mile mountain road up from about 6,700 feet to over 10,000 feet. As you pass through the park entrance and see the "Great Basin National Park" sign, the Scenic Drive is just after on the right hand side. Travel up the road tends to take about 30 minutes if visitors do not stop. The road ends at the Bristlecone Trailhead and parking lot, where the seasonally open Wheeler Peak Campground is located.

Trailheads are located at several locations along the road. Lehman Creek Trailhead is located within the Upper Lehman Creek Campground about 3 miles up the road. Osceola Ditch Trailhead about 5 miles, the Summit Trailhead about 11 miles, and the Bristlecone Trailhead at mile 12.