Great Basin National Park
Great Basin is a national park in Nevada. It was founded in 1986 on an area of 312 km2. The park was called the Grand Pool - one of the most arid areas of North America. Most of the rainfall falls on winter and summer thunderstorms.
The park is known for its Prometheus tree, the oldest tree on the planet, which grew near the border of the forest with Mount Wheeler Peak. In 1964, a young graduate student found this tree and was able to get it cut down to find out the age of the tree in the scientific interests. Scientists have found that the tree is over 5000 years old. One of the authors of the scientific papers on Great Baysin then remarked: "The oldest living creature was killed in the name of science". Because of the then raised public resonance, the whereabouts of the ancient pines are kept secret.
In Great Baysin, 11 species of coniferous trees and approximately 800 plants, 61 representatives of mammals, 18 reptiles, as well as 238 species of birds are growing. Of the plants in the national park, aspenes predominate, white spruce, wormwood. In the national park, an abundance of animals, such as deer, ermines, rabbits, gophers, chipmunks, among the wormwood live coyotes, foxes, badgers, mice. On the slopes of the mountains you can find mountain lions, lynxes, mountain proteins and sheep. In mountain rivers there is a large amount of trout. Of the birds in Great Baysin there are many hawks, tits, eagles, forty, sparrows.
For travelers, the park has 12 tracks, ranging in length from 0.5 to 21 km. Some paths are very heavy for inexperienced travelers, as you have to climb the highlands. But most routes are not atk hard and usually end in a campground. About 90,000 tourists visit the park annually.
