This “Lonely” Nevada Highway Has Ancient Forests, Hot Springs & a Darn Good Burger

Life Magazine Said to Skip It

In 1986, Life magazine called Nevada’s Highway 50 “totally empty” and warned drivers to bring survival skills. An AAA spokesperson said there were no points of interest.

Nevada officials responded by turning the insult into a tourism campaign, creating the Highway 50 Survival Guide where travelers collect stamps for a certificate signed by the governor.

Nearly 40 years later, this 287-mile stretch between Fernley and Ely draws thousands of road trippers each year, and the attractions they find along the way prove the magazine got it completely wrong.

Sand Mountain Rises 600 Feet at Mile 25

About 25 miles east of Fallon, a massive golden dune appears out of nowhere in the brown desert landscape.

Sand Mountain stretches 3.5 miles long and towers 600 feet high, making it the largest single dune in the Great Basin. The sand came from ancient Lake Lahontan, which dried up about 9,000 years ago.

On hot, dry evenings, the dune produces eerie booming and moaning sounds, making it one of only a handful of singing sand dunes in the world.

Off-roaders ride ATVs and dune buggies across the open sand, while nearby ruins mark the Sand Springs Pony Express Station, buried for a century until archaeologists dug it out in the 1970s.

Middlegate Station Serves Four Pounds of Burger

At mile 47, a wooden saloon appears in the middle of nowhere.

Middlegate Station started as a Pony Express stop in 1860 and now serves as the only gas station for nearly 50 miles in either direction.

The real draw is the Middlegate Monster Burger, a triple-decker beast with 1 1/3 pounds of Angus beef on a sourdough bun piled with all the fixings.

By the time fries hit the plate, you are looking at four pounds of food. Finish it and you get a free t-shirt.

Fail and your name goes on the Monster Hall of Shame.

Dollar bills cover the ceiling, left by regulars who needed a place to stash cash when the nearest bank was hours away.

Austin Became a Ghost Town at Mile 110

In 1862, Pony Express riders discovered silver here, and Austin’s population exploded to 10,000 people. Today about 300 residents remain in what locals call a living ghost town.

Victorian buildings line the main street, and four historic churches still stand, including an 1878 Episcopal church considered one of the prettiest frontier churches in Nevada.

Above town sits Stokes Castle, a three-story stone tower built in 1897 by a wealthy mining baron as a summer home. His family lived there for exactly one month before leaving Austin forever.

The castle still stands, fenced off but visible from a short dirt road with sweeping valley views.

Spencer Hot Springs Offers Free Soaks at Mile 130

About 12 miles south of Highway 50 on a dirt road, steam rises from pools in the high desert.

Spencer Hot Springs sits on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, so there is no admission fee and no closing time.

The water reaches up to 130 degrees in the natural pools, though a metal cowboy tub at the top lets you control the temperature. Wild burros sometimes wander down to drink at dusk.

After dark, the lack of light pollution turns the sky into a blanket of stars. There are no bathrooms, no cell service, and no crowds, just hot water and silence.

Hickison Petroglyphs Date Back 10,000 Years

At mile 134, a short dirt road leads to volcanic rock outcroppings covered in ancient carvings. The Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area preserves rock art created by Western Shoshone people as far back as 10,000 BC.

A half-mile interpretive trail winds past panels of intricate patterns, lines, and shapes carved into the soft volcanic tuff.

The site includes 16 free campsites with picnic tables and fire rings, plus views of Big Smoky Valley and the Toiyabe Mountain Range.

Archaeologists believe the area served as a hunting ground where early people tracked deer and antelope crossing between mountain ranges.

Eureka Has an 1880 Opera House at Mile 180

Eureka bills itself as the friendliest town on the loneliest road.

In the 1870s, this was Nevada’s second-largest mineral producer with 9,000 residents and 16 smelters belching so much smoke that locals called it the Pittsburgh of the West.

Now about 500 people live here, but the buildings remain remarkably intact.

The Eureka Opera House opened on New Year’s Eve 1880 and still hosts concerts, fiddle contests, and theater performances.

Across the street, the Eureka Sentinel Museum occupies the building where the town newspaper was printed from 1879 to 1960.

The Jackson House Hotel, built in 1877, offers Victorian rooms and reportedly enough paranormal activity to attract the Ghost Adventures television crew.

Ely Runs Century-Old Steam Locomotives at Mile 257

When copper was discovered here in 1906, the Nevada Northern Railway built 150 miles of track to haul ore from the mines.

The railway shut down in 1983, but the entire operation was donated to a nonprofit that now runs it as a working museum. The Smithsonian has called it the best-preserved historic railroad in the country.

You can ride original steam locomotives on the same tracks they traveled a century ago, tour the engine house and machine shop where workers left their tools as if they went to lunch and never came back, or pay extra to actually operate a locomotive yourself.

Every October, the Haunted Ghost Train of Old Ely draws crowds for spooky rides through the desert night.

Bristlecone Pines Have Lived 4,900 Years

Near the Utah border, Great Basin National Park protects some of the oldest living things on Earth.

Bristlecone pines growing on the rocky slopes of Wheeler Peak have survived for over 4,900 years, meaning they were already ancient when the Egyptian pyramids were built.

A 2.8-mile trail from Wheeler Peak Campground leads through groves of these gnarled, twisted trees that thrive in conditions where almost nothing else can grow.

The park also holds Nevada’s only glacier, tucked below the 13,063-foot summit, and has been designated an International Dark Sky Park for some of the clearest stargazing in the Lower 48.

Lehman Caves Hold Rare Shield Formations

Below the mountains, Lehman Caves stretch more than two miles through limestone, making it the longest known cave in Nevada.

Guided tours last 60 or 90 minutes and pass through rooms filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and over 300 shield formations, rare disc-shaped structures that most caves have one or two of at most.

The cave maintains a constant 50 degrees year-round, so bring a jacket even in summer.

President Warren Harding declared it a national monument in 1922, and it became part of Great Basin National Park when Congress created the park in 1986, the same year Life magazine told everyone to skip Highway 50.

Five Towns Share 287 Miles of Desert

The loneliest part of Highway 50 runs from Fallon to Ely through three small towns: Austin, Eureka, and Ely. Between Fallon and Austin, you will drive 110 miles with almost nothing but sagebrush and mountain ranges.

Austin to Eureka adds another 70 miles, and Eureka to Ely takes 77 more.

The route crosses 17 mountain passes, some reaching over 7,000 feet with steep grades and hairpin turns. Cell service disappears for long stretches.

Gas stations can be 50 miles apart or more. But that emptiness is the point.

The road follows paths worn by Pony Express riders, Overland Stagecoaches, and the original Lincoln Highway, and the wide-open spaces look much the same as they did 150 years ago.

The Survival Guide Still Exists Today

Nevada’s response to the 1986 Life article became a tradition that continues nearly four decades later.

You can pick up a free Highway 50 Survival Guide at visitor centers in Carson City, Fallon, Austin, Eureka, Ely, or Baker.

Get it stamped at five of the seven participating locations, mail it in, and you receive a certificate declaring you survived the Loneliest Road in America, signed by the governor.

The whole thing started as a joke aimed at a magazine that called the road worthless.

Thousands of travelers have earned their certificates since then, proving that sometimes the best way to handle an insult is to own it.

Visiting Highway 50, Nevada

Highway 50 runs 287 miles from Fernley to Ely, with Great Basin National Park another 60 miles east near Baker. The drive takes about five hours without stops, but plan for a full day or overnight to see the highlights.

Gas up in Fallon, Austin, Eureka, or Ely since stations are scarce between towns. Cell service is unreliable for most of the route.

Sand Mountain Recreation Area charges $40 for a week pass, but Tuesday and Wednesday are free.

Lehman Caves tours require reservations at recreation.gov and cost $8 to $12 for adults. The Nevada Northern Railway offers train rides starting at $35.

Pick up your free Survival Guide at any visitor center along the route.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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