The 12 Best Stops Along “The Loneliest Road” in Nevada

U.S. Highway 50, Nevada

The true spirit of Nevada lives along Highway 50. Past the neon lights of Vegas and Reno, this road cuts through old mining towns, desert valleys, and places where wild horses still run free.

Here’s your guide to the best stops on America’s Loneliest Road.

Dayton

Just east of Carson City is Dayton, a major stop for pioneers and gold-seekers, and today, for drivers on the Loneliest Road.

It’s where gold was first found in Gold Canyon in 1850, setting up the later Comstock Lode discoveries. That history is alive and well in Dayton.

The Odeon Hall, Nevada’s oldest casino building from 1863, still works as a saloon today. While there, look for the exact spot where gold was first found at the Chinese Rock Retaining Wall, built by immigrant workers in 1856.

The 1865 Dayton Firehouse, Nevada’s oldest firehouse, has original firefighting gear including a hand-pumped wagon from 1857.

Walk through the Pike Street Cemetery, started in 1851, with fancy Victorian headstones showing causes of death from mining accidents to gunfights.

Fort Churchill

About 40 minutes east of Dayton, turn off Highway 50 onto Highway 95A to check out the weathered ruins of Fort Churchill.

Built in 1860 to protect settlers and Pony Express riders, this adobe outpost was left empty just nine years later.

Today, the crumbling remains of officers’ quarters, barracks, and other structures show Nevada’s frontier past.

The fort’s military hospital, with its exposed brick foundation, treated 47 documented soldier injuries from 1861-1864.

The commissary’s walls, still 14 feet high, stored 2,136 pounds of supplies brought monthly by wagon train. The powder magazine, with 30-inch thick walls, held 12,000 rounds of ammunition during the fort’s active days.

A mile east, the Samuel Buckland Ranch, built in 1859, worked as both stage stop and military warehouse with original outbuildings still standing.

Sand Mountain

As the road continues, you’ll spot Sand Mountain rising 600 feet above the desert floor and stretches over 2 miles.

This huge dune, made from sand carried from prehistoric Lake Lahontan, creates a strange landscape against Nevada’s mountains and valleys.

The dune’s sand grains date back 10,000 years to ancient Lake Lahontan and contain mostly quartz and feldspar, giving the sand its cream color.

The special friction between sand particles creates the booming sound heard at only 35 similar “singing” dunes around the world.

During spring, look for the Sand Mountain blue butterfly (Euphilotes pallescens arenamontana) which lives here and nowhere else on Earth.

Fallon

Fallon, home to the Naval Air Station Fallon (TOPGUN), is the last main town before the road truly earns its “lonely” nickname.

This farming community along the Carson River has long helped travelers in the desert.

Maine Street (spelled this way on purpose since 1908) has The Nugget casino from 1957, with its original neon signs.

The Oats Park Art Center, in a 1914 school building, has a 350-seat theater with original oak floors. Churchill County Museum, started in 1968, shows an intact 1901 Pony Express station moved from nearby Desert Station.

The 1911 Fallon Depot, now the Fallon Convention Center, keeps original Southern Pacific Railroad architectural details including hand-carved wooden brackets.

After leaving Fallon, traffic thins out as you enter the remote areas that define Highway 50.

Middlegate Station

This is a historic Pony Express stop that now works as a popular roadhouse in the middle of nowhere.

This rustic place is known for its Monster Burger Challenge – a four-pound burger that, when finished, gets brave eaters a special t-shirt.

The walls covered with hundreds of dollar bills and souvenirs tell stories of travelers who’ve stopped here for decades.

Running non-stop since 1857, Middlegate’s original log walls can still be seen in the back section of the building. The bar counter, added in 1926, came from a Virginia City saloon and has over 4,500 carved initials.

The property’s stone well, built in 1859, still holds drinkable water from the same mountain spring that supplied Pony Express riders.

The station’s guest book, kept since 1924, contains names of notable travelers including former U.S. presidents and famous aviator Charles Lindbergh.

Petroglyphs At Hickison Date Back To 8,000 BCE

Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area offers a fascinating look at Nevada’s ancient past. This Bureau of Land Management site has a short half-mile trail leading to rocks with 10,000-year-old Native American art.

These old symbols, carved into the desert varnish on the rocks, show the spiritual beliefs and daily lives of the area’s earliest people.

There’s the “medicine man” figures wearing antler headdresses from about 8,000 BCE. The large circular calendar stone lines up perfectly with the summer solstice, making a shadow right through its center.

Archaeological digs in 1978 found 247 arrowheads and projectile points showing hunting activities across 10,000 years.

From the site’s 6,594-foot elevation, you can clearly see both Toiyabe Range and Toquima Range across Reese River Valley, showing why this spot was strategically important to native inhabitants.

Austin

Started in 1862 when Pony Express riders found silver, Austin once had 10,000 people during its silver boom.

Today, with about 300 residents, this high-desert town keeps its mining heritage through well-kept historic buildings and old mines.

The 1863 St. Augustine’s Catholic Church has Nevada’s oldest church organ, dating to 1864 and still working today.

The Gridley Store, built in 1863, keeps original wooden shelving where miners bought supplies with raw silver. The International Hotel, first built in 1859 and rebuilt after an 1871 fire, claims to be Nevada’s oldest hotel that’s never closed.

The Reese River Mining District made 30 million ounces of silver from 1862-1893, with mine entrances still visible on the hillsides above town.

Eureka

Eureka calls itself “The Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road in America.”

The town appears on the National Register of Historic Places, with many original brick and wood buildings from the 1870s and 1880s still there.

The 1880 Eureka Opera House has original hand-painted stage curtains showing local landscapes and the original 1924 Wurlitzer piano still used in shows.

The Eureka Sentinel Building, built in 1879, houses the original Washington press that printed the town’s newspaper from 1870-1960. At the Jackson House Hotel, you can see period furniture in each room including four-poster beds with original hardware.

It’s also a great place to top up on supplies before you go on your way.

Ely

Ely marks the easternmost main town on Nevada’s Highway 50, 77 miles east of Eureka. Started as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express Trail, Ely grew quickly after copper was found in 1906.

Here’s where you can access services after Fallon, including hotels, restaurants, and modern conveniences.

The six-story Hotel Nevada, built in 1929, was Nevada’s tallest building for 35 years and has original Art Deco elevator cabs still running. The White Pine County Courthouse, built in 1908, has a 16-foot stained glass skylight made by Tiffany Studios.

The Central Theater, opened in 1941, keeps its original projection equipment and art deco marquee. The East Ely Railroad Depot, built in 1907, holds 40,000 original Nevada Northern Railway documents including payroll records, schedules, and telegrams.

Ward Charcoal Ovens

Just south of Highway 50 near Ely, the Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park protects six huge beehive-shaped structures that remain as monuments to Nevada’s mining past.

Built in 1876, these 30-foot tall stone ovens made charcoal for the nearby silver smelters in the mining district. Each oven used exactly 35 cords of wood during a 12-day burning cycle, making 1,750 bushels of charcoal.

The ovens’ walls, 18 inches thick at the bottom, narrow to 12 inches at the top following a perfect parabolic curve for maximum heat efficiency. The inside temperature reached exactly 2,000°F while working, forcing workers to wear special leather aprons and face coverings.

After mining stopped in 1879, the ovens served as temporary shelter for stagecoach travelers and reportedly hideouts for cattle rustlers between 1880-1895.

Great Basin National Park

Likely due to its remoteness, Great Basin National Park is one of America’s least visited.

Which is a shame, because it’s absolutely amazing. Great Basin has alpine lakes, ancient bristlecone pine forests, plenty of wildlife, and the impressive 13,064-foot Wheeler Peak.

The park includes many different environments, from sagebrush-covered desert valleys to high mountain forests, showing the distinct landscape features that make up the Great Basin region.

The park’s underground wonder, Lehman Caves, offers guided tours through a large marble cave system filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and over 300 rare shield formations.

The Prometheus Tree, cut down in 1964, was 4,862 years old—the oldest known non-clonal organism ever recorded.

Teresa Lake, at 10,280 feet elevation, contains a unique alpine ecosystem with rare Tiger salamanders. From Wheeler Peak’s summit, you can see across four states on clear days with visibility over 100 miles.

Border Inn

At the Nevada-Utah state line, the Border Inn makes a fitting end to your journey along America’s Loneliest Road.

This remote outpost crosses the state line, with the restaurant in Nevada and the motel rooms in Utah.

After traveling 400 miles of mostly empty highway, this modest place lets tired travelers rest, eat, and think about their trip through Nevada’s striking landscape.

The restaurant’s “border burger” weighs exactly one pound and comes with green chilies from both states. The guest register has entries from travelers from all 50 states and 72 countries, with the record for most visits held by a trucker who’s stopped 436 times since 1974.