Great Basin National Park

Great Basin National Park is comprised of 31,230 hectares (77,180 acres) of U.S. federal lands centered on the eponymous Great Basin, a dry and mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada of California and the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, USA. Situated approximately 470 kilometers (290 miles) north of Las Vegas, Nevada, the Park protects stands of ancient bristlecone pine trees, the world’s oldest known non-clonal organisms, and the Lehman Caves at the base of 3,982-meter (13,063-foot) Wheeler Peak. The Highland Ridge Wilderness, lying just south of the Park, brings the total area of contiguous protected lands to 590.0 km² (227.8 mi²).

The Park is located in one of the least-populated regions of the lower 48 U.S. states, and the typical basin-and-range topography of the Great Basin serves to help shield the site from skyglow from distant cities. The result is a truly notable dark-sky resource worth protecting. To this end, the Park has undertaken efforts to improve its own lighting as well as to educate both Park visitors and residents of neighboring communities on the importance of dark skies at Great Basin and the need to protect them.