The Loneliest Road in America!

In 1986, a Life Magazine writer declared Highway 50 from Ely to Carson City, Nevada as one of the most remote areas that he had ever driven and declared it to be “The Loneliest Road in America”. Truthfully, there are probably more deserted roads around but this one has a guidebook and challenges you to take it. To prove that you actively traveled it you must have your guidebook stamped at designated Hwy 50 validation stations. This video shows the start of our travel!

xGVaof5P0fQ

A quick story: my wife and I traveled hwy 50 about 10 years ago on a round trip from CA to SD and WY. We stopped in Austin NV and walked around. Went to the general store and saw corn flakes next to shotgun shells on the same shelf. Loved that.

Thanks for the story, Casey! We loved Austin too; still has a great Old West vibe to it. Eureka also had that feel and Ely was a little bigger but an enjoyable environment. Just a fantastic road trip!

I’m headed to Durango CO in three weeks and plan on going that way again. Looking forward to it.

Cool story. I’m gonna have to check it out. If you’re looking for my vote for “loneliest road”, I say the Denali Highway between Denali and Paxson, AK. Beautiful, but it got kinda eerie driving for so long and not seeing anybody.

That sounds lonelier than Highway 50. Occasionally we would see a car coming from the other direction. But definitely a strange feeling being out there alone for such long stretches. It’s beautiful too; you can see the mountain peaks from Great Basin National Park.

LSuTa1uQS24

<----- loves lonely roads, of course. Thanks, Lex! [cheers.gif]

In 2008, we drove from Sea Ranch CA to NY, via highway 50 in an old '73 911 targa, and stopped in Ely overnight, staying at a B&B which was a former brothel. Called the B&B to confirm we were on our way that morning and they asked if we would arrive before or after 8pm, as they would be in bed after 8. Strange I thought, but I said most likely we would arrive on the later side. The proprietress gave us a keycode to let ourselves in, and warned us to watch out for the sheriff handing out tickets upon arrival to Ely as there was a 30mph sign that catches out a lot of people who are cruising at higher speeds across the open desert. Well we did watch our speed, saw the nice sheriff, and let ourselves in. The owner cooked us a lovely breakfast the following day, and explained their early to bed schedule was because they got up at 4am to make BBQ and were also a local bakery :slight_smile:
Regarding basques, out west, near Bakersfield CA was where I have had wonderful lunches at a basque restaurant called the Noriega Hotel.

Most of the stretch between Austin and Middlegate Station is “new” Highway 50. A couple of miles west of Austin, if you turn south, you’ll be on old Hwy 50 for 50+ miles.

After topping Railroad Summit, you’ll see a ten mile long dry lake bed. It’s fun to drive on. The access road is at about the half way point. South of that you’ll go over Carroll Summit. This winding pass road is the reason for building the new section.

Just after rejoining Hwy 50, there’s a new “shoe tree” on the right. The old one was cut down by a vandal, but the new one is filling up nicely. A mile or so farther is Middlegate Station, an old Pony Express and stage stop. They serve terrific burgers.

You’re welcome, Terry. Love your profile pic! Looks like a great place to chill out.

Thanks for the great story, Karl. We stayed at a motel in Ely; can’t recall the name. I’ll check with my wife who is editing that video, should have it up next week. I think they still have the same speed trap. I recall slowly down getting into town, but I didn’t see any sheriff there. Awesome town!

Next time we’re going through Bakersfield, I will keep the Noriega Hotel in mind. We’ve never tried basque cuisine and we’re curious. What wine would you recommend?

Thanks for the info on old Hwy 50, Bob! We enjoyed our trip so much we’re considering a future trip back years from now, only we’ll switch things up by heading east instead of west. So we might check out that old section next time. I’m sure we would have loved those burgers for lunch, but we still had leftover steak to finish from our time eating dinner at the Cellblock Steakhouse in Ely the night before. Have you ever been there? We were absolutely thrilled with our experience!

Vvf3MA_2PWY

Lex, regarding wine, there is no choice. ITs a set menu, communal table … salad, meats, veg, sides, cheese, water, and chilled red basque wine they make themselves, which is quite tasty …

Thanks for letting me know that, Karl. Sounds like a meal to look forward to!

Here is our most recent vlog of the conclusion of our Loneliest Road Challenge:

FOWysmn7YAI