The Loneliest Road and I-70 Through Nevada and Utah

Sitting on the border of Nevada and Utah, Great Basin is one of the least-visited national parks because of its remoteness. It sits right off of State Route 50 (the Loneliest Road) near Baker, Nevada. We parked for two nights so that we could visit it.

Looking through the museum in the visitor center, I learned something that was fascinating. An area that covers almost the entire state of Nevada and west to the Wasatch Mountains in Utah is a huge basin. Water comes in the form of rainwater and snowmelt and flows through the streams and rivers, but never leaves the basin. Sort of like the milk at the bottom of your cereal bowl. The National Park is but a tiny microcosm of it.

Some of the Basin’s moisture has dripped into Lehman Cave, a feature of the park that we were able to get a tour for.

Every cave that we’ve visited has one or two things that differentiate it from any other. Lehman has 1,107 “cave turnips”. Only a dozen caves have them world wide, and they date back to the Ice Age. A cave turnip is a stalactite with a bulge in it. There are two of them in the picture below; can you spot them?

Out of the cave, we drove up the scenic drive, stopping at a couple of view points. Here was a flip side of the view that we had been seeing for the last couple of days.

At Mather Overlook, we could see another basin, this one carved out by a glacier.

We topped out at 9,886 elevation on Wheeler Peak, although it was not the tippy-top of the mountain. The road ended here, and we stopped for a little hike.

Melting snow created a wonderland of waterfalls and rushing streams. The sound of flowing water and the chirping of the birds made a nice backdrop for a lawn chair lunch.

Although this is a smaller national park, it is nice not to have all the crowds of the more dramatic parks we have been to.

Back at our RV, we admired the clashing fronts happening in the sky – dark clouds rolling in but still blue to the west, from which we had come. There was intermittent wind and splashes of rain. It was a relief from the heat.

Also looking west–the official Lonely Road sign.

I wandered around in the desert a bit.

In the morning, we drove about a second before we were in Utah and Mountain Time.

And still, the road went on.

The western side of Utah was prettier than I thought it would be. We climbed up a pass and went down into a rocky gorge. Then, there was something that looked to be a huge dry lake covered with sand, or maybe it was a salt bed, and it went on for miles.

I looked at my paper Utah map, and it was noted there as Sevier Lake (Dry).

We climbed out of the Wasatch mountains, and we were out of the Great Basin. Our stay for the night was an RV park in Salina, Utah. The only thing memorable about this park was that the owner kept a huge flock of chickens, and she gave us a complimentary dozen eggs in several colors. Today, I’m not sure if she wouldn’t have charged us for them, because they are pure gold!

Highway 50 ended here, and we were now on Interstate 70. Route 66 may be called “The Mother Road”, but to me, I-70 is the Mother Road. I’ve either lived a large portion of my life not far from this highway, or I’ve driven on it through many states countless times to vacation or visit family. I think, though, that this was only the second time we’d been on it at its western origination.

We were now entering a spectacular area with towering rock monuments, rock pillars and canyon vistas. It was almost as good as going through the Utah national parks. Actually, Arches National Park is somewhere to the south of this view. There was even a turnoff, Salt Wash Scenic area, to take in the view and enjoy a picnic lunch.

The parking lot was packed and I felt really happy that this stop off was here. It gives people a small taste of the state’s wonders, even if all they can do is zip through it.

Next time – a few days in Western Colorado

Note: although I am writing this during the winter of 2025, the trip actually occurred in June 2024.