BALD MOUNTAIN
Contributed by Dave Dobak
FACTS
Country: United States
Location: Great Basin National Park, Nevada
Round trip: 7 km
Start elevation: 3050 m
Final Elevation: 3350 m
Maps:Earthwalk Press Hiking Map and Guide- Great Basin National Park
GETTING THERE
From Visitor Center at Baker, follow park entrance road and Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive to Summit trailhead. Approximately 16 miles, paved.
PARTIAL PLANT LIST
Penstemon
Arenaria congesta
Sedum lanceolatum
Castilleja nana
Phacelia sericea
Aquilegia caerulea
Erigeron leiomerus
Antennaria
Mahonia repens
Selaginella watsonii
Potentilla ovina
Populus tremuloides
Initially, the trail is in a forest of aspen, with an understory of juniper and Mahonia repens. From a large meadow below Bald Mountain, the trail ascends to a saddle where the Wheeler Peak trail head south. Bald Mountain is to the north, with no defined trail. The rocks become bigger and bigger as you ascend; a walking stick may be helpful. Found in this fell field are Aquilegia caerulea, Arenaria congesta, Castilleja nana, and Sedum lanceolatum.
Views are spectacular.
For more information on trail conditions visit www.nps.gov/grba .
“Montane Islands in a Desert Sea” by Theodore Cochrane in Rock Garden Quarterly, Spring 2002, 60:1.
Hiking Great Basin National Park, by Bruce Grubbs (Falcon).
A plant list may be available at park visitor centers.
BALD MOUNTAIN GALLERY.
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