Between Lake Tahoe in the west and Great Basin National Park on the Utah border, US-50 crosses more than 400 miles of Nevada’s corrugated country, climbing up and over a dozen distinct mountain ranges while passing through four classic mining towns and the state capital, Carson City.
In July of 1986, Life magazine dubbed Nevada’s Highway 50 the “Loneliest Road in America.” The article claimed there were “no points of interest” along the route and “warned” readers not to risk traveling it unless they were confident of their “survival skills.” However, Nevada adventurers knew better then, and still do. A road doesn’t get much more wide-open than Highway 50, but that’s exactly why we love it. Today, this famous Nevada road trip is your gateway to ghost towns, historic mining communities, stunning state parks, and a handful of authentic Sagebrush Saloons.
Travel Nevada, a state-run site, sponsors a promotion where you can earn certificates that say, “I Survived the Loneliest Road in America”. You can go on this website to get your Highway 50 Survival Guide and then get your travel passport stamped along the highway. As you travel along the highway you’ll see road signs, T-shirts, and bumper stickers proclaiming that you’re on the “Loneliest Road”.
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Day 1: Capital Carson City to Historical Austin
This trip takes you through the more inhabited part of US 50 with lots of small towns and fun adventures. It will fill your day, especially if you take the side trip to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park. Let’s take a look at this first leg:
Dayton– This is the first stop, which is just east of Carson City. Gold was first found here in 1850 at Gold Canyon. Stop at Odeon Hall, Nevada’s oldest casino building. At Odeon Saloon, Dayton’s oldest watering hole, and you can order a cocktail inspired by notable patrons like Mark Twain and Marilyn Monroe. While here look around for the exact spot where gold was first found at the Chinese Rock Retaining Wall. If you’re a history hound, keen on discovering the Nevada story, then you must stop at Dayton State Park and nearby Fort Churchill State Historic Park, both points along the historic, if short-lived, Pony Express route.
Dayton State Park– At the foot of the Virginia Range, on the banks of the Carson River, Dayton State Park offers picturesque beauty as well as gold and silver mining history. The park features the remains of the Rock Point Mill built in 1861.
Republic of Molossia– This area has quietly been an official, independent, sovereign nation for forty years, and is located right in a Dayton neighborhood. Free, highly whimsical monthly tours are offered from spring through fall (reservations required). Just be sure to leave your incandescent light bulbs, catfish, and onions at home, though as those items are contraband within these borders.
Fort Churchill State Historic Park– About 40 minutes east of Dayton, turn off Highway 50 onto Highway 95A to check out the weathered ruins of Fort Churchill. Today, the crumbling remains of officers’ quarters, barracks, and other structures show Nevada’s frontier past.
Sand Mountain -As the road continues, you’ll spot Sand Mountain rising 600 feet above the desert floor and stretches over 2 miles. This huge dune, made from sand carried from prehistoric Lake Lahontan, creates a strange landscape against Nevada’s mountains and valleys. The special friction between sand particles creates the booming sound heard at only 35 similar “singing” dunes around the world. During spring, look for the Sand Mountain blue butterfly which lives here and nowhere else on Earth.
Fallon– Home to the Naval Air Station Fallon (TOPGUN), is the last main town before the road truly earns its “lonely” nickname. Maine Street (spelled this way on purpose since 1908) has many shops, restaurant and The Nugget casino for you to explore. This casino opened 1957 and has its original neon signs. The Oats Park Art Center, originally a 1914 school building, has a 350-seat theater with original oak floors. Churchill County Museum, opened in 1968, shows an intact 1901 Pony Express station moved from nearby Desert Station. Now you’re going to start the real “loneliest” part of this road trip.
Middlegate Station– This is a historic Pony Express stop that has become a popular roadhouse in the middle of nowhere. This rustic place is known for its Monster Burger Challenge where you need to eat a four-pound burger that, when you finish, you will receive a special T-shirt. The walls are covered with dollar bills from travelers over decades. Running continuously since 1857, Middlegate’s original log walls can still be seen in the back section of the building. The bar counter, added in 1926, came from a Virginia City saloon and has over 4,500 carved initials. The stone well, built in 1859, still holds drinkable water from the same mountain spring that supplied Pony Express riders. The station’s guest book, kept since 1924, contains names of notable travelers including former U.S. presidents and famous aviator Charles Lindbergh.
Hickison– Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area offers a fascinating look at Nevada’s ancient past. This Bureau of Land Management site has a short half-mile trail leading to rocks with 10,000-year-old Native American art. There’s the “medicine man” figures wearing antler headdresses from about 8,000 BCE. The large circular calendar stone lines up perfectly with the summer solstice, making a shadow right through its center. From the site’s 6,594-foot elevation, you can clearly see both Toiyabe Range and Toquima Range across Reese River Valley, showing why this spot was strategically important to native inhabitants.
Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park– If you want to take a detour this is between Fallon and Austin off US 50, then head to this state park. It’s about 95 miles from Austin. You’re in for a two-fold treat at this remote central Nevada state park you’ll find a real, early 20th century ghost town and 225-million-year-old marine reptile fossils. Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park offers a glimpse into Nevada’s rich silver mining history, as well as the largest known concentration of Ichthyosaur fossils at the site’s fascinating Fossil House. It is open 24/7.
Austin- This is the final stop on the first leg of your trip. Austin once had over 10,000 residents during its Silver Boom. Today, with about 300 residents, this high-desert town keeps its mining heritage through well-kept historic buildings and old mines. The 1863 St. Augustine’s Catholic Church has Nevada’s oldest church organ, dating to 1864 and still working today. The Gridley Store, built in 1863, keeps original wooden shelving where miners bought supplies with raw silver. The International Hotel, first built in 1859 and rebuilt after an 1871 fire, claims to be Nevada’s oldest hotel that’s never closed.
Day 2: From Lovely Austin to Nature Loving Ely
If you go straight from Austin to Ely, it is 147 miles and you will pass through Eureka, NV. But if you decide to enjoy all the side trips in this area, you may want to consider making it a two-day trip and stay in Eureka. Let’s explore the many adventures you can find on this leg.
Spencer Hot Springs– Before you leave Austin, head over to the hot springs and enjoy a perfect soak. You’ll have three bathing spots available to you at Spencer Hot Springs, brimming with natural spring-fed hot water piped right into the tubs. That means you can control the temperature by moving the water source in and out, heating it to your perfect soak temperature. Two of the spots are man-made pools constructed from metal cattle troughs, AKA cowboy tubs, and the other has a natural soft bottom. While here, keep your eyes and ears peeled for a charming herd of wild burros, the Hickison Burro Herd, who have called Big Smoky their home forever.
Toquima Cave– Nestled in the mountains east of here, take the quick 30-minute drive to Toquima Cave. 1,500 to 3,000 years ago, the Shoshone people used this sacred rock shelter as a temporary dwelling. Very few artifacts were uncovered, though an impressive number of pictographs can be seen covering the cave wall. Toquima Cave is considered to be one of the best examples of pictographs in North America, thanks to the sheer volume of ancient drawings that employ all four colors available at the time: red, black, yellow and white.
Eureka– Eureka calls itself “The Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road in America.” The town appears on the National Register of Historic Places, with many original brick and wood buildings from the 1870s and 1880s still there. The 1880 Eureka Opera House has original hand-painted stage curtains showing local landscapes and the original 1924 Wurlitzer piano still used in shows. The Eureka Sentinel Building, built in 1879, houses the original Washington press that printed the town’s newspaper from 1870-1960. At the Jackson House Hotel, you can see period furniture in each room including four-poster beds with original hardware.
Garnett Hill Recreation Area– Garnet Hill near Ely is located in White Pine County along Highway 50 on a well-maintained dirt road. A “Garnet Hill” BLM marker on the right-hand side of the road will guide you to the recreation and rockhound area. Here you can do your own rockhounding for garnets.
Ely– This marks the easternmost main town on Nevada’s Highway 50, 77 miles east of Eureka. It started as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express Trail; Ely grew quickly after copper was found in 1906. While you’re here take a tour of the six-story Hotel Nevada, built in 1929, was Nevada’s tallest building for 35 years and has original Art Deco elevator cabs still running. The White Pine County Courthouse, built in 1908, has a 16-foot-stained glass skylight made by Tiffany Studios.
Cave Lake State Park– Situated just off the Great Basin Highway, it’s about 15 minutes south of Ely. Cave Lake is perched in the foothills of the Schell Creek Range, part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. At a towering 7,300 feet, this 32-acre Nevada State Park offers outstanding views with amenities and facilities. The main attraction here is of course Cave Lake itself, which provides great swimming, stand-up paddleboarding, fishing and tubing in the summer months.
Success Loop Scenic Drive– Located directly off the Loneliest Road in America, about 10 minutes from downtown Ely, this scenic byway brings you through the spectacularly scenic Schell Creek Range. The Scenic Drive lies adjacent to Cave Lake State Park, and depending on how you access this loop, you can begin or end your journey at the park. On this easy, 40-mile drive, visitors will wind their way up into high desert landscapes that this part of The Great Basin is known for. Here, you will find incredible mountain views and aspens exploding with color.
Grand Finale- Two Scenic Stops
Ward Charcoal Ovens– Just south of Highway 50 near Ely, the Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park protects six huge beehive-shaped structures that remain as monuments to Nevada’s mining past. Built in 1876, these 30-foot-tall stone ovens made charcoal for the nearby silver smelters in the mining district. Each oven used exactly 35 cords of wood during a 12-day burning cycle, making 1,750 bushels of charcoal. Once the mining ended, the ovens were used to shelter travelers and even had a reputation as a hideout for stagecoach bandits. The ovens remain today and are open for touring.
Great Basin National Park– Likely because of its remoteness, Great Basin National Park is one of America’s least visited. It’s great if you like less crowds, but it’s sad more people don’t get here to see how beautiful it is. Great Basin has alpine lakes, ancient bristlecone pine forests, lots of wildlife, and the impressive 13,064-foot Wheeler Peak. The park’s underground wonder, Lehman Caves, offers guided tours through a large marble cave system filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and over 300 rare shield formations. Teresa Lake, at 10,280 feet elevation, contains a unique alpine ecosystem with rare Tiger salamanders. From Wheeler Peak’s summit, you can see across four states on clear days with visibility over 100 miles. You can get to the summit via the 12-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive.
Road-Trip Prep & Survival Tips
Fuel discipline – Top off anytime you’re below ½ tank. Distances between pumps can hit 100 miles.
Real spare tire – Cell service is patchy; a donut won’t cut it.
Layers – 100 °F desert afternoons can drop to 40 °F at 7,000 ft.
Paper maps – Grab the free Highway 50 Survival Guide or a Benchmark atlas.
Night-drive caution – Wild mustangs, elk, and the occasional wandering cow love asphalt after dark.
Final Thoughts
Calling US-50 the “Loneliest Road in America” is like calling the Grand Canyon a ditch, technically true, wildly misleading. This ribbon of pavement is an open-air museum of Wild West history, a playground for hot-spring hunters, and a stargazer’s red-carpet runway. Bring curiosity, a full tank, and maybe a sense of humor. You’ll leave with dusty boots, a fresh roll of camera snaps, and bragging rights stamped in your passport. Happy Trails!
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