Lower Lehman Campground

Many of the spots in this campground are right along a lovely stream which is incredibly picturesque. Unfortunately they're also fairly unlevel! We used up all of our leveling blocks and our position felt a bit precarious, but our little slice of the stream made up for it.

This is dry camping and the elevation is 7300 ft so even in the summer it can be quite chilly.

There are amazing hikes at this park and my husband and son were impressed with the cave. It's definitely worth a visit!

Price reflects the senior pass discount. This is a very small campground that seems to fill quickly, though most people appear to only stay one night. As mentioned in the previous review, the spaces are ridiculously off-level, but a little work will set that (nearly) right, and the sound of the water all day and, especially, at night makes it worth it. If you can get a site on the water side (right-hand side as you drive in), so much the better. Sites 1 (handicapped), 2, and 10 seem the most level, with site 2 being our favorite—it consisted of several small clearings, including one right next to the river so you could spread out and take advantage of the whole site.

Vault toilets were surprisingly clean and odor-free throughout our stay. Water is available throughout the campground, though not at each site. There is no electricity, but most sites have enough tree clearance for the sun to reach solar panels at least part of the day.

The Lehman Caves tour is well worth the pain of having to book online. There are several hikes in the area, the Bristlecone Pine trail is magical. There’s a restaurant and a bar/cafe in town, and a limited grocery store—stock up before you go. Cell service is wildly uneven, going from 4 bars of 4G to 1 bar of 1X.

The magic of the river, the cool air, and the clear nights full of stars make this one of our favorite happy places.

Dogs’ perspective: Like all national parks, dogs aren’t allowed on the trails, so if you’re content with circling the campgrounds and visitors’ center, that’s your option.

Although this is billed as the least-visited National Park, all the campsites on LLCG were full when we first arrived (mostly due to wildfires in the norther states pushing vacationers further south than usual according to the rangers.) We stayed in town one night, then stalked the campground the following day. As mentioned in previous reviews, the sites are terribly unlevel, so creative parking and leveling blocks are a must. Although #6 wasn't our first choice, we didn't move once we had the chance, being perfectly happy in our spot on the inner side of the loop where the wild turkeys and deer made daily visits, often more than once a day. There are quiet and generator hours, but once it snowed, no one was complaining if anyone had to run their generators a bit outside the posted hours and with the nice site separation, it was nearly impossible to hear your neighbors anyhow.

The restrooms were kept very clean and stocked. The water in the park is crystal clear and potable. If you want to explore beyond the campground (no matter which one you stay in) you'll need a toad or other means of transport as this park is very spread out -- which makes it completely quiet and lovely. Payment options include a credit card feature, which was a very nice surprise. There are no supplies available in the park, and very limited ones in the town of Baker, so be prepared with all the food, fuel, etc. you'll need for your stay.

Our primary activity here was hiking, and we summited Wheeler Peak, as well as hiked the Bristlecone, Glacier, Alpine Lakes Loop, Timber Creek Loop, Johnson/Dead Lake Loop, Lexington Arch, Pole Canyon, and both interpretive nature trails. Our favorites were Bristlecone, Lexington Arch, and, of course, summiting the peak. If you plan to hike, keep in mind this is all at elevation and remote -- plan accordingly. Help, should you need it, is NOT coming quickly no matter where you are in the park. Many of the hikes are only accessible after traveling many miles on long gravel roads most of which are in very good condition, but some which require AWD/4WD, so be prepared for that. I recommend printing out the park's newspaper which is available online and gives a nice rundown of all the hikes (not all the distances and elevation are correct, however!) and local amenities.

Both Visitor Centers are very nice. GBVC just outside the park is smaller but has nicer interpretive displays. LCVC inside the park is large with a very nice cafe (good food!) and gift shop. We did not visit the caves on this trip. We visited Kerouac's restaurant one evening, and it was very good. We got gas at the unmanned pumps in Baker, used the $2 showers there twice, once with plenty of unlimited hot water, once no hot water was forthcoming. We patronized T&D's store once, snagging the last dozen eggs, and the coffe cart once to get a cuppa for the road on our way out of town.

There isn't much to do in the local area, but you can take a trip to the Utah border where there is another RV park that has a restaurant, casino, pay showers, store, etc. A quick visit to the Baker Archeological Site is moderately interesting and free. But if you want peace, quiet, a zillion stars, and fabulous hiking, all you need is the park itself (which requires no pass or entrance fee, by the way!)

Though extremely unlevel, the positive atmosphere here makes up for it in every way. It's a small campground with only eleven sites, but it's nearly impossible to see a neighbor. The trees and bushes are thick and high, and you feel like you're in your own private corner of the world.

We arrived around 11:30 on a Wednesday morning. Only three sites were taken, so we had a pretty good pick. If Site #4 was level, it could arguably be the world's greatest campsite. It's located right by the creek and is surrounded by trees and shrubs. There was a picnic table and a fire ring, too. The creek kind of splits upstream right before the site, so we had a little wading pool to cool off in after hikes. We foraged for wood, and it burned and smelled awesome. This campsite was a dream.

The dump station at the visitors center was down when we arrived, but they said there were places in Baker you could fill up. We had just come from there and were not excited to do more driving, so my husband filled up the tank manually with a six-gallon jug. He's my hero. :) It was doable and not that bad because there are spigots throughout the campground. When we left, we dumped at the gas station in Baker (which was oddly out of gas). Come prepared! Luckily we had enough to make it to Milford, Utah.

Lower Lehman is located at the base of the mountain, so be aware that it's about 10-15 degrees warmer here than it is at the top of the mountain. It was about 85 degrees in the middle of the day, but the shade and the creek helped. Plus, we stayed up on the mountain for as long as possible, and if you do a cave tour (which you should!) it's always 50 degrees in there.

Great Basin was a wonderful surprise. We loved the caves, the hike to the glacier, the alpine lakes, and the bristlecone pines. The scenery is breathtaking!

We were here in mid-May and it was snowing! We love the snow so that was cool but it is a remote area so come prepared with plenty of supplies. The campground has pit toilets and water although in May the water was still winterized. Drinking water was available at the Lehman Cave Visitor Center. The sites are spread out and most are adjacent to the creek which is really nice. Verizon service isn't worth much here but T-mobile worked fairly well especially with the WeBoost up and running.

Sites are tight over grown and not level. Had to use all of our blocks (4) sets of stacking leveling blocks to get good enough for one night. Our TT is 31.5ft overall length and campground was tight to navigate and we were rubbing trees on both sides driving through camp.

Camp was otherwise clean and nice. In the future I would stay outside the park and drive in opposed to try and bring any full size trailer or class A in here.

Camper vans or pop ups would be more appropriate for this spot.

Talk about an “undiscovered” gem; well undiscovered by National Park standards. According to Fodor’s The National Parks of the West and the park’s brochure, Great Basin National Park is the least visited NP in the system; we don’t know why? It was downright gorgeous! No, it did not have the sights of Yosemite, the attractions of Yellowstone or the wildlife of the Grand Tetons (nor did it have the people!), but the vistas of the Great Basin and the quiet that is generally absent in the frequently visited NPs was “ deafening”. We visited here in late October and many of the park’s campgrounds were already closed for the season. Only two remained open, Upper and Lower Lehman Creek campgrounds. We settled into site 10 in the lower campground which backed up to a creek and paid- a whopping- $7.50 per night. We loved this place so much we extended our original plan from one to three nights- it was that wonderful. The tour of the Lehman Caves was worthwhile as was the drive-up up to Wheeler Peak and the subsequent 4- mile (round trip) hike to the Bristlecone Pine Grove. The sites were nicely spaced from each other with an asphalt pad and water spigots sprinkled throughout. Although there were no flush toilets or showers, the vault toilets were clean and attended to daily.

First come first serve. We were worried we wouldn’t get a spot. If we had come after 12 we would have been out of luck. We grabbed site 7 and thought we scored big time. It was a back in site that is super long. Easily fit our truck and trailer combo (40’) with room to spare. Very private with lots of space between other sites. Small creek ran through the back of the site. If you have trailer I recommend this CG. We checked out all the other CG and agreed we had the best. Upper Lehman and Baker Creek are tight with brush leaning into the road(especially Baker Creek- very over grown- truck was scratched just driving thru). Very few sites would fit a trailer or MH at either of the other CG.

This is a small campground and it fills up quickly. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and first went to the Upper Lehman Creek campground. It was full and we started to worry a little. We then went to this campground and found most of the sites full until we arrived at site #7. While backing in, more people came by looking for a site! Lucky us!

We have a 27’ Airstream and had no problem fitting in the site or leveling the trailer. We can not see the campers on either side of us, which is unheard of in a National Park. The rate we paid reflects the Senior Pass.

The stars at night here are just incredible! It is known to have one of the darkest skies in the country.

The caves are closed due to COVID, but the hiking and weather are perfect!

Make sure you stock up on propane and food and drink before coming here as there is literally nothing here but the park.

What a gem!

We arrived on Thursday 10/1. Found one site open #3. It was very private, but super unlevel for a RV, but great for tent camping. We managed for 1 night, then got lucky with someone leaving site #10 on Friday. We stayed at that site until Tuesday. Big level site next to a nice flowing creek. Very quiet campground and plenty of space between neighbors. Best campground we have every stayed at!