The Great Basin of the United States envelops Nevada, and touches Oregon (see Oregon's Basin & Range Gallery),  Idaho,  lots of Utah and parts of southwest California.  In these sparsely populated Basin Range areas, precipitation falls mostly as snow that melts in the spring.  Much evaporates leaving dry deserts pictured here in "Death Valley Photos" and  "Mojave Desert" pictures; the melted snow that flows into streams collects in playa lakes...salty lakes that have no outlet to the sea. 

The Great Basin is made of Mountains and Deserts...a world of Superlatives!.  The hottest place (Death Valley 120 in summer), the lowest point (Death Valley 282' below sea level), the largest National Park (Death Valley), the driest place (Death Valley 2" rain per year), the oldest living organisms ..."Bristlecone pines 4000 ya" in "Great Basin NP",  the tallest  "Tufa Towers" (30 ft limestone towers rising from Mono Lake, an oasis in the Great Basin that serves millions of migratory and nesting birds.)  Mono Lake is a playa lake ie alkaline lake since it has no outlet and therefore is subject to salt buildup.  It is the oldest lake in the US, formed about 760,000 years ago. 

In this most inhospitable area lived the greatest legend...flamboyant and outrageous Walter Scott. He leaves behind  "Scotty's Castle", a huge and isolated Death Valley Ranch now visited by tourists.  The "Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest"  (6.3 million acres)  is the largest forest in the lower 48 states.  It  contains "Great Basin National Park" and the most scenic campground at  "Wheeler Peak"  and "Jeff  Davis Peak" ...tallest peaks of the "Snake Range".

There is the worst  "Badwater" and the "Loneliest road in America".  Is that enough superlatives for you?    presenting...