After a much-needed lighting upgrade, tours of the popular Lehman Caves at Great Basin National Park have returned.
According to park officials, the renovation allows guests to see the caves in “a whole new light,” while reducing disturbances to the fragile ecosystem.
As of mid-July, groups of up to 20 visitors can experience the 60-minute Lodge Room tour or the 90-minute Grand Palace tour. Both tours, which are ranger-guided, are available to book up to a month in advance on recreation.gov, with some times reserved for walk-up visitors. (To secure those tickets, hang out outside the visitor center before it opens at 8 a.m.)
The current schedule, available through Sept. 7, is as follows: Grand Palace tour at 9:45 a.m., a walk-up at 11:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. The Lodge Room tour runs at 8:30 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m., with walk-ups at 9:15 a.m., 3:45 p.m. and a 4:30 p.m. available Wednesdays through Sundays.
An accessible tour of the first room, lasting 30 minutes, is available at 10:30 a.m. and must be booked online.
The renovation began in December, with an expected duration through spring. A 30-minute, limited variation of the tour, which included the Gothic Palace and Rose Trellis Room, resumed on May 22.
“Touring Lehman Caves has been a favorite activity of residents and tourists alike for more than 130 years, and we’re excited to welcome visitors back to a traditional Nevada experience,” Great Basin National Park Superintendent Ashley Adams said at the time in a news release.
The renovation cost $5.8 million, funded through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. The former lighting system was 48 years old. The project removed 5 miles of old wiring.
Great Basin National Park is Nevada’s only national park (though not its only National Park Service unit), about a five-hour drive northeast of Las Vegas, against the Utah border. The park is home to the state’s sole glacier.
The caves were protected as a national monument in 1922 and were combined with the park in 1968. They were named for ranger Absalom Lehman, who guided tours of the cave in the late 1880s.
Contact Kristen Di Chiara at [email protected].