Great Basin and Stargazing
On the Road Again!
Highway 50 – the Loneliest road in America
Hello everyone!
This is my first blog post, and I am so excited! I love sharing my travel adventures with family and friends—and hopefully helping others learn from some of the mistakes I make along the way.
I’ve traveled Highway 50 before, and one of the things I love most about it is the sheer vastness of the landscape. There is something about driving through Nevada with miles of open road stretching ahead of you that makes you realize just how enormous—and beautiful—the American West really is.
U.S. Highway 50 stretches across the United States, but its journey through Nevada begins in one of the most beautiful places in the state: Lake Tahoe.
Lake Tahoe, NV
From Stateline at South Lake Tahoe, Highway 50 winds through the lush landscape of the Lake Tahoe Basin before crossing through Nevada’s capital, Carson City, and continuing east toward the wide-open spaces of northern Nevada.
Eventually, the landscape changes. The mountains and forests around Tahoe give way to farmland, desert valleys, mountain passes, and some wonderfully small Nevada towns.
Fallon, known as the “Oasis of Nevada,” is the last sizable agricultural and trade center before the landscape really begins to open up. It isn’t terribly far from Reno, but it feels far enough away for anyone looking to escape the city for a while.
And then comes the stretch that earned Highway 50 its famous nickname: “The Loneliest Road in America.”
But “lonely” doesn't mean empty.
Between Fallon and Ely are small communities like Austin and Eureka—places that might be easy to drive through without stopping, but each has its own history, character, and story to tell. Old buildings, mining history, mountain scenery, and remnants of Nevada’s past appear along a highway that can sometimes seem to disappear straight into the horizon.
My destination this time is Ely, where I’ll be staying while I explore eastern Nevada.
If your main goal is visiting Great Basin National Park, tiny Baker, Nevada, is another option and puts you much closer to the park. But accommodations, restaurants, and other amenities are more limited there.
And that brings me to something important about this particular road trip:
This trip isn’t about proving how rugged I can be.
I’m not heading into the Nevada wilderness to sleep in my car, survive on trail mix, or demonstrate my pioneer credentials.
This trip is about the joy of the open road—beautiful scenery, strange little stops, fascinating history, and the freedom to pull over when something catches my attention.
Adventure, yes. But with comfort in mind.
And I think Highway 50 might be the perfect place to start.
Eastbound Highway 50, Nevada
