The Loneliest Road (US-50)
Carson City → Baker, NV · ~410 miles (NV) · 2–3 days
Stylized illustration, not a photo — the real place looks different (and that’s half the fun).
Dubbed "the Loneliest Road in America," US-50 across Nevada runs basin-and-range through ghost towns, sand dunes, and pony-express stations with almost no one else around.
Updated July 2026.
Big-empty Nevada, basin and range.
The emptiness is the point — dark skies, free desert hot springs, petroglyphs, and a near-empty highway that ends at Nevada’s least-visited national park.
States on this route
The signature stops
What to pull over for.
The best stops on the The Loneliest Road (US-50) are the places that define the drive, not just the nearest towns. Roamward orders them for the road: start with Sand Mountain, Spencer Hot Springs, Hickison Petroglyphs, Great Basin National Park, then open each stop guide for the pull-over context.
01Sand Mountaina 600-foot "singing" dune off the highway — open the stop guideNV
02Spencer Hot Springsfree cowboy soaking tubs out on open BLM land — open the stop guideNV
03Hickison Petroglyphsancient rock art at a quiet free pullout — open the stop guideNV
04Great Basin National ParkLehman Caves and bristlecone pines at the road’s end — open the stop guideNV
Where to eat
Restaurants along this route.
Restaurants on the The Loneliest Road (US-50) are chosen for trip usefulness: gateway-town location, a clear reason to stop, and enough quality to make a traveler save the pick. Start with Kerouac's, Kerouac's Restaurant, Sugar, Salt & Malt, The Basil Restaurant.
A curated set of trip-useful meals near the route — enough to anchor driving days without turning the guide into a phone book.
- Kerouac's
Scratch-made, seasonal dinners at the Stargazer Inn that have made tiny Baker an unlikely food destination. Seasonal (roughly late May–mid October, Wed–Sun) — check before you drive out.
- Kerouac's Restaurant
A polished Great Basin gateway dinner when the US-50 day ends near Lehman Caves instead of another casino buffet.
- Sugar, Salt & Malt
Eclectic little kitchen swinging from pasta to sushi nights to homemade ice cream sandwiches — in a town of 60 people. One of the very few dinner options at Great Basin's doorstep.
- The Basil Restaurant
A Carson City launch meal for US-50 travelers who want something bright and spicy before the Nevada road opens up.
- Cell Block Steak House
Ely's only fine dining, served inside themed jail cells at the historic Jailhouse Casino. A memorable steak night an hour from Great Basin's Lehman Caves.
- Cellblock Steakhouse
A playful old-jail steakhouse in Ely for the central Nevada overnight.
- Racks Bar and Grill
A casual Ely stop for travelers who want burgers, beer, and fewer logistics after a long US-50 desert day.
- Eureka Depot Restaurant
A useful Eureka sit-down stop in the middle of the basin-and-range crossing, especially when Austin-to-Ely timing gets awkward.
- The Slanted Porch
A Fallon farm-country lunch stop that gives the early Loneliest Road day a fresh, local-feeling alternative to casino food.
- Middlegate Station
The essential Loneliest Road roadhouse: sparse desert, huge burger, and exactly the right middle-of-nowhere pause.
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Stay & experience
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Things to do near The Loneliest Road (US-50)
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