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Wheeler Peak Trail System

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This information is a public record of the 1979 NRT application and may be out of date if it has not been updated by a trail manager --
check with the trail manager for updated details before visiting.

Wheeler Peak Trail System

National Park Service
  • Length
    10 miles
  • Elevation Gain
    --
  • Route Type
    out & back

The hike up Wheeler Peak is 8.6 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2,900 feet to the 13,063-foot summit. It's a moderately easy hike with no technical areas, just steep, rocky sections to navigate

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The summit of Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
The summit of Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
Alpine wildflowers near the summit of Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
Alpine wildflowers near the summit of Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
View up towards the summit of Wheeler Peak from along the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail. Photo by Famartin.
View up towards the summit of Wheeler Peak from along the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail. Photo by Famartin.
View of Wheeler Peak from the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail in Great Basin National Park. Photo by Famartin/wiki.
View of Wheeler Peak from the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail in Great Basin National Park. Photo by Famartin/wiki.
View up towards Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
View up towards Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
  • The summit of Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
  • The summit of Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
  • Alpine wildflowers near the summit of Wheeler Peak. Photo by Famartin.
  • View up towards the summit of Wheeler Peak from along the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail. Photo by Famartin.
  • View of Wheeler Peak from the Wheeler Peak Summit Trail in Great Basin National Park. Photo by Famartin/wiki.
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Location: Great Basin National Park between Bald Mountain and Wheeler Peak.

  • States: Nevada

Wheeler Peak is located in Great Basin National Park, which encompasses a massive mountain range that looms over the sagebrush flats of western Utah and eastern Nevada. Great Basin is most well known for the ancient, 5,000-year-old Bristlecone Pines and tours of the Lehman Caves. But high above all that, towering above all other summits in the Snake Range, stands Wheeler Peak.

If you want to summit Wheeler Peak, you'll need to get an early start, especially if climbing in monsoon season, to avoid thunderstorms. To do that, it's best to camp in Great Basin where several developed campgrounds are there stake your tent and get some sleep. On summit day, drive up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive as it climbs from sage and grass topography to a dramatic shift through aspens and fragrant pine forests at the highest elevation. Once there, you'll feel like you're floating on a sky island as the desert spreads out far below in all directions.

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Allowed Uses:

Hiking/Walking

Public Contact

National Park Service
2035 Last Chance Rd.
Elko, NV 89801
(702) 738-5171

Contact the trail manager for current maps and visiting details.

More Details

  • Elevation (low): --
  • Elevation (high): --
  • Elevation (cumulative): --
  • Part of a Trail System? No
  • Surface (primary): --
  • Surfaces (additional): --
  • Tread Width (average): 0"
  • Tread Width (minimum): --
  • Running length (minimum): --
  • Tread Grade (average, percent): --
  • Tread Grade (maximum):
  • Running length (maximum): --
  • Cross-slope (average, percent): --
  • Cross-slope (maximum): --
  • Running length (maximum): --
  • Certified as an NRT
    Mar 4, 1979
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