Great Basin National Park

Avast and lonely sunbaked land, the giant shallow bowl of the Great Basin extends across Nevada and reaches into five neighboring states. Far from uniform, the basin consists of desert flats punctuated by a series of north-south mountain ranges. Geologists call it the basin and range region. Most of the mountains rise high enough to catch moisture from the air, so that barren slopes are transformed into verdant oases with streams and lakes watered by the runoff from glistening snowcapped peaks.

The most spectacular part of the Great Basin, the South Snake Range, is the heart of this new national park. About 30 miles long and up to 14 miles wide, the range hosts a startling diversity of living things, arranged in varying horizontal layers, of life zones, and stacked high. A trip to the range's top, one observer noted, is like traveling from Arizona to Canada, from desert to alpine heights, all within 10 miles. Filled with such wonders as the world's oldest living tree species, huge underground natural sculptures, and Nevada's only glacier, this park offers surprises at every level.

Surviving where few other plants can, sagebrush covers the desert floor with a sea of gray-green leaves. The roots of this stubby evergreen grow wide and deep, searching for and absorbing any available water; silvery gray hairs on the narrow leaves conserve moisture. The plant's rich, pungent aroma perfumes the air and lingers in the memory as a sharp remembrance of the West's desert wilderness.

Growing well into the foothills, where more moisture falls, sagebrush becomes luxuriant, with a silver-green color that contrasts with the dull hues of its lowland kin. Chipmunks, gophers, and jackrabbits seek shelter from coyotes and other predators under the intricately twisted branches.

Here, at 6,000 feet, larger plants are able to take root. Pinyon and juniper trees form a pygmy forest no higher than 40 feet, where long-eared mule deer browse on rabbitbrush in winter. Shoshone and Paiute Indians who lived in this region relied on the pinyon pine's sweet-tasting nuts as a source of food, and used its sap for waterproofing baskets and as glue for moccasins.

The pygmy forest stands guard outside a giant marvel: Lehman Caves, one of the most intimate and elaborately decorated caverns in the West. Narrow, twisting passageways connect spacious rooms that bear such fitting names as Grand Palace, Sunken Garden, and Gothic Palace. Filled with an incredible variety of stone sculptures, the cavern is a fantasy world created by nature, formed over thousands of years by untold drops of mineral-laden water.

As rain and meltwater from snow and ice seeped underground, they dissolved the underlying rock, hollowing out the cave. This seeping liquid was not, however, pure water; it was dilute carbonic acid (formed when water absorbs carbon dioxide from plant material near the surface), strong enough to dissolve the marble bedrock. You can still see patches of the blue-gray marble on the cave ceiling where it has not been covered by decorations. The acidic water carried the dissolved calcium carbonate (the mineral that makes up marble) into the cavern and deposited it as crystals, slowly building up the fantastic formations you see today. Still at work, nature continues to add to her creations and to begin new ones, ever changing her subterranean showcase, drop by drop.