1/11/2014
The Loneliest Road/Highway 50 Nevada
The Loneliest Road/Highway 50 Utah
The state of Nevada and the towns along highway 50 in Nevada claim that the highway is the "Loneliest Road in America". Apparently, a writer for Life magazine claimed it was in 1986. This designation has since been used as a marketing tool. I like lonely roads so I was excited to find out that Nevada 50 was on my route this summer. I understand that loneliest is entirely subjective. However if objective criteria that were equivalent similar to "loneliest" were used to judge roads in the US... There are many roads in Nevada even that have less traffic than 50. It's true that some stretches are pretty empty. But emptier stretches of road exist in several places in the west. There are some pretty long gaps between towns and services. Ely, Eureka, Austin and Fallon are all about 80 miles apart. I can think of several stretches of road that have longer distances between services. In fact highway 6 southwest out of Ely Nevada has no services for 160 miles. In any case Highway 50 is without a doubt a very lonely road in America. It's also pretty boring. But then again so is I-80. I can't say that I have a preference for either road as a route across Nevada from east to west.
Places to stop and see along highway 50 in Nevada:
Austin Nevada | Small, old mining town. (8 photos - 2013)
Ely | Mining town and center of commerce for Eastern Nevada. (5 photos - 2013)
Eureka | Well preserved mining town from 1870s-80s. (5 photos - 2013)
Great Basin National Park | One of the least visited and isolated parks in the National Park system. (8 photos - 2013)
The Loneliest Road/Highway 50 Nevada
The Loneliest Road/Highway 50 Nevada
The Loneliest Road/Highway 50 Nevada
The Loneliest Road/Highway 50 Nevada
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