We've heard about the "Loneliest Road in America" that we decided to take a trip on this road. 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."
Well, we had to test our survival skills so off we go. Journey with us as we take a road trip to ghost towns, historic mining communities, the Great Basin National Park, stunning state parks, encounter the oldest tress and a handful of authenticity-packed Sagebrush Saloons as Nevadans call 'em.
Before departing for our road trip, I ordered a Survival Guide through Travel Nevada, to earn tripper credits, stamp-by-stamp at each location and our itinerary. After 5 stamps, you can submit to Travel Nevada to receive a certificate of completion to authenticate your survival skills.
To begin the road trip, we made our way to Caliente, NV, Pioche, NV, Baker, NV, and the Great Basin National Park. We had a few spots we wanted to visit before starting the official drive on the "Loneliest Road in America."
Caliente Railroad Depot
About 25 miles north on Hwy 93, we reached Pioche, NV. Here we explored three places:
Boothill Cemetery, Pioche, NV
Thompson Opera House
On our way to Baker, NV, we stopped for a quick photo op at the Horns-A-Plenty Antler Art on Hwy 6/50.
Baker, NV
A funky little town on the Nevada-Utah border, making this our first stop on a Loneliest Road in America (US-50) or Great Basin Highway (US-93) road trip. This town is also the gateway to spectacular Great Basin National Park.
Continue West on Hwy 50, we stopped at the highest point on Hwy 50: Connors Pass
From Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, we drove 19 miles to our campground for the night.
Elk Flat Campground, Cave Lake State Park, Ely, NV
Clean, quiet, well maintained campground. Flush toilets, push button hot showers. Great place to camp-out.
Day 2
For the second day of our journey, we set out from our campground with our end goal of getting to Dayton, NV. Its about 5 hr 20 min drive, but we tried to stop a much as we could along the way to really experience the loneliest road. Here are all the places we stopped during our second day.
Ely, NV
Ely's downtown area has a lot of murals, which focus on historic parts of the city. We've picked up a map of Downtown Mural Tour brochure from Nevada Hotel and use it to navigate around the downtown to capture mural arts.
Nevada Hotel
The Nevada Hotel was built at a cost of $400,000, and was opened in 1929.
Nevada Northern Railway
A one one-of-a-kind rail yard dedicated to restoring, preserving, and operating its historic facilities, yards, and rail collection. We were able to experience an actual working railroad straight from the past.
Back on Highway 50
Along Highway 50, we had to stop and take a photo of "Nowhere Nevada." So true!!!
Eureka, NV
Eureka County Courthouse
Built in the 1800's, still in use today.
Eureka Opera House
This Opera House is across from the courthouse, built in 1880 and has seen many famous entertainers, and then the entire backstage area is tagged with their signatures.
One of the smallest towns on the route.
Stokes Castle.
Originally built in 1897, a three story stone building on the outskirts of town.
Fort Churchill State Historic Park
Built in 1860 to provide protection for early settlers and westbound emigrants and guard the Pony Express and telegraph lines.
Day 3
After a quick drive around the State Park, we made our way down to Highway 50 and hopped back on the route. We stopped at two roadside attractions on our way to Dayton, NV.
The Hot Rod Art
Cactus Building
Dayton, NV
Not much to see but it is the first gold site that was found in Nevada.
Historic sign
Fallen soldier monument
Dayton motorcycle group is responsible for having the monument erected in Kiwanis Park on August 15, 2015, adjacent to Highway 50.
Fourth Ward School
Virginia City, NV
We wanted to visit Virginia City, even though it was not part of the loneliest road in America city. It is one of Nevada's best-preserved old towns. We has fun walking around and talking with some locals about the way of life then and now. Here are a few of the things we saw there.
Erected 1875, four stories, it has 14 classrooms, 2 study halls built to accommodate 1,025 students, it was a grammar - high school combination and graduated its last class in 1936.
Silver Queen Hotel
The Silver Queen is 8 x 15 - foot picture created in 1957 as a tribute to the miners and the mining industry in Virginia City. The Silver Queen has 3,261 silver dollars. Her belt is made of 28 gold $20 coins, and her bracelets and necklace are silver quarters.
Piper's Opera House
From the 1860s to 1920s, Piper's Opera House attracted famous stars from Europe and the United States.
Bucket of Blood Saloon
The structure was constructed in 1976 after the great fire of 1875. It is an old-time hey-days saloon with many hanging lamps and mirrors.
Mark Twain Museum
In September, 1862, Samuel Langhorne Clemens arrived in Virginia City & hired on as a reporter at the Territorial Enterprise Newspaper, site now the Silver Queen Saloon. In February, 1963, while covering the Territorial Legislature in Carson City, Clemens signed his dispatch Mark Twain for the very first time in his career. His employment with Nevada's most iconic newspaper was short-lived, lasting only 22 months. Twain departed Virginia City for California in May, 1864. Clemens died in Redding, Connecticut in 1910, but Mark Twain was born in Virginia City, Nevada.
End of the Loneliest Road in America
From Virginia City, we drove 26 mins to Carson City, our last stop and our last stamp to complete our travel through Nevada's Highway 50. We still had about 1.5 to 2 hours driving to our campsite, so we only stopped at one place.
Carson City, NV
Nevada State Museum and Historic Carson City Mint
The museum is incredible with a fantastic mining exhibit, however, the main reason to visit is to see the historic mint, which is actually still used to print coins.
We really enjoyed seeing this old photo. "No income tax, no sales tax, no inheritance tax, no corporation tax, no gift tax, A debt free state welcomes you." If only so today...
As we had back home, we decided to take a detour and visit Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lake since we wanted to camp out in Mammoth Lake area. Here are few places we've visited.
Lake Tahoe, CA
After Mammoth downtown, we arrived at our last night of camping.
Reds Meadow Campground
Upper Fall
Driving to Reds Meadow Campground is challenging since is is a very narrow, single lane road. Only accessible until end of September. The campsite has potable water, picnic table, fire ring, food storage locker, vault toilet but no shower.
Day 4
We had two places to visit before heading home so we took an advantage by hiking to two most popular hiking trials.
Rainbow Falls Trail
The 101-foot waterfall is part of the Devils Postpile National Monument. It is know for the colorful rainbow that its mist creates. Since we were there early morning, we did get to see the rainbow. The best time to experience the rainbows is midday, when the sun is highest.
Devils Postpile
Lower Fall
A unique geological structure features thousands of hexagonal basalt columns formed many thousands years ago when lava flow slowed and then cooled and cracked.
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
Here you can see the oldest known living tree in the world. Some of these living trees exceed 4000 years of age and exhibit spectacular growth forms of twisted and beautifully colored wood.
From Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, CA, our trip took us 4 hr 2 min to our home.
Details
- 4 days
- Gas: $207.95
- Campground fees: $58.00 for three nights
- Mileage: 1,351.9 miles
- Tip: Do your research as to where you will top off on gas since it is desolate.
Nan and I really enjoyed our road trip as well as our camping. The "Loneliest Road in America" was lonely, stark, desolate, and beautiful. Thanks for coming along on Journey with Mil and Nan. Blessings!
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