The Loneliest Road in America

There has been a lot written about "the loneliest road in America."

U.S. Route 50 is a transcontinental highway in the United States, stretching from West Sacramento, California, in the west to Ocean City, Maryland, on the east coast. The Nevada portion crosses the center of the state and was named "The Loneliest Road in America" by Life magazine in July 1986. Wikipedia

Our trip down the loneliest road was guided by our goal of reaching the bustling town of Elko, Nevada, our base for exploring the Ruby Mountains and hiking in Lamoille Canyon. We planned to drive from Tonopah to the small town of Austin, east to the small town of Eureka (Austin to Eureka was along the Loneliest Road), and then north again to meet up with Interstate 80 just west of Elko, NV--yes, the same I-80 that runs through Chicago.

Heading north from Tonopah to Austin on Nevada highway 376 (120 miles), we were basically by ourselves the entire route (and this isn't even the loneliest highway yet!). No towns, no rest stops, no gas stations. Once we reached US Route 50, we quickly drove uphill, and then approached Austin by a gradual descent. It was not a very pretty sight, unfortunately, with a lot of the charm of driving through an abandoned junk yard. Austin (2022 population of 16) was pretty empty, except for the really good gas station. It really felt empty, because the one main business had a wreath on the door with a note that the owner had just died.

I do know there are active businesses and many things to do there, but we had other interests, so after filling up the gas tank, we headed east another 70 miles on Route 50 to reach Eureka.

Eureka felt like a hive of activity compared to Austin. With a population of 315 (2022 estimate), there were actually people about and cars on the road. More importantly, there was an active community. In addition to the gas station, there were really nicely restored historic buildings such as the Opera House, the Court House, and the old Newspaper Publisher's Building.

After a short walk-around (and filling up with gas again), we headed north on Nevada Highway 278 for another 2 hours (114 miles) toward Elko. Elko felt like a different world. It has a population of 20,756 (2022), and serves as the center of the Ruby Valley, a region with a population of over 55,000. The road from Eureka connected with Interstate 80 just west of Elko, and led us into the heart of the town via the I-80 Elko business loop. I learned that Tom was quite surprised at Elko, having expected something more like a small mountain town, not a bustling city with airport and big shopping centers and traffic jams.

As we approached the area around Elko, we could see the Ruby Mountains, with snow on the peaks.

Finally, after visiting the Elko tourism center and finding a hotel (Ramada by Wyndham at Stockmen's Casino) where we planned to stay for several nights, we were ready to see our destination: Lamoille Canyon. We began with a drive through the Elko suburbs toward the small town of Lamoille, identifying the roads we would need the next day to get into Lamoille Canyon.