Remote Sanctuary of Darkness- Part 1, Arrival

Route from Cedar City to Great Basin National Park. Distance approximately 140 miles

It's day 10 of our 2026 Odyssey and we have just eclipsed the 1000 mile mark since our departure from home!

We are on the road to Great Basin National Park in Nevada. The failed slide out on our RV is behind us and it’s onward and northward! Van Life isn't bad at all!

The park derives its name from the Great Basin, the dry and mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Mountains. It’s huge, covering over 120 square miles. Really the main attraction for myself is the dark night sky. It is one of the darkest places in the United States. The International Dark Sky Places program has designated Great Basin National Park a Dark Sky Sanctuary. These are the most remote regions where there literally is no artificial lighting from any nearby town for over 70 miles in all directions.

One fact I was not aware of is that Great Basin has the only research-grade astronomical observatory built in a national park.

But astronomy is not the only thing happening at Great Basin. The Lehman Cave system began forming around 550 million years ago, while it was still submerged in a relatively warm, shallow ocean. The caves are made up of a marble and limestone solution, for the most part, that forms the cave decorations throughout the caverns. So there is darkness above, and darkness below!

There is also a glacier on the top of Wheeler Peak at over 13,000 feet. It is one of the southernmost glaciers in North America.

Nevada Rte 21 North

And now back to the journey. We headed out to our next destination along some of the most desolate road I have seen. I think there were maybe 3 or 4 other cars the entire way. Make sure you are topped off with gas before you go! There are actually gas stations in a couple towns along the way but significant stretches with no services.

Solar telescope set-up outside the visitor center

We arrived a little early at the visitor center and took a tour of the facility. It was obvious the area is about the night sky! There is a small outdoor amphitheater where daily astronomy presentations occur. While we were waiting for the Lehman Cave tour, we were invited by a group of volunteer amateur astronomers to take a look at the sun through a solar telescope!

Up at the Visitor Center which is off to the right, you can see Wheeler Peak in the background. There is still a small remnant of glacier which can be seen on the other side.

I had set up a tour of the Lehman Caves before we arrived as they book quickly. You need to make your reservation a month ahead. This year the park was renovating a significant portion of the cave system which is over 2 miles long! The tours are typically an hour to an hour and a half, but in this case it was limited to a half hour. We did that first before heading to the campsite.

Take the tour with us below!

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/a32607_6da214ef9edf4ed49f765a4ec8e94aa2/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Lehman Cave tour!

Thanks for reading...and watching!

DrDave