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Mike Robinson
Samba Member
Joined: June 18, 2010
Posts: 386
Location: Nanaimo BC Canada
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 Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 7:44 am Post subject: Crossing Nevada |
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I was wondering if anyone had any 'tips' or 'don't miss' or 'avoids' in Nevada.
We are travelling at the beginning of September. Our start point is Reno and we are heading to the Northern part of the Grand Canyon.
We can go i80 and 93 south, or 50 - the loneliest road ... sounds an interesting place for a breakdown 
We are not planning to spend a lot of time - the focus of this leg is Southern Utah, but I am sure Nevada is not just to be driven through.
Campsites? Food?
Thanks!
Mike |
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jackbombay
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Joined: October 19, 2007
Posts: 2725
Location: Portland Oregon
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singler3360
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2009
Posts: 1191
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
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| Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 11:58 am Post subject: |
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Just came back from a venture to so. Utah via eastern Oregon and Nevada. Hwy 50, the Loneliest Road is a must. Be sure to slide through the town of Austin. We intended to stay one night in Great Basin National Park but liked it so much that we stayed some extra nights. The campgrounds in the park are nice.
Highlights are the Lehman Cave tour, the drive to Wheeler Peak trailheads and hike to the 4-5K yr. old Bristlecone pines groves and the star party put on by rangers. Nevada is deceiving; there's a lot to explore and it's not all gambling and glitter. It's great country to explore and Sept. might be perfect temparature-wise. Interestingly, I had very good AT&T cell coverage all along Hwy 50!
Have a great trip.
EDIT: Forgot to mention there is plenty of dispersed camping options all along Hwy 50 once away from the Reno area all the way to the Utah border. Great Basin N.P. has some dispersed campsites along some disconnected dirt roads into the eastern side of the park that looked promising as we drove past them one morning.
Last edited by singler3360 on Sat Jul 30, 2011 1:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mike Robinson
Samba Member
Joined: June 18, 2010
Posts: 386
Location: Nanaimo BC Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks
Hwy 50 sound like one of those roads not to miss. What are the hills like on it?
Mike |
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singler3360
Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2009
Posts: 1191
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
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| Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Mike Robinson wrote: |
Thanks
Hwy 50 sound like one of those roads not to miss. What are the hills like on it?
Mike |
As you travel west to east, it's a series of steep climbs over passes followed by flats 50 miles across. Very interesting country to travel through but not quick in the Westy. Enjoy the journey not just the destination, as the saying goes.
Our first time across was a year ago Spring Break. We were heading to so. Utah then too and didn't bother to stop along the way (more a recon trip for this summer's venture). After two days crossing on Hwy 50 our water pump went out at a truck stop along I-15 just over the border in Utah. Kind of a lucky break really. This summer our Westy performed flawlessly, thanks in part to finding a vacuum leak near the fuel pressure regulator (which had previously survived a trip to so. Cal and back). |
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Volksaholic
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Joined: December 26, 2005
Posts: 1771
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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Another vote for Hwy 50. I80 is functional but DULL, DULL, DULL. Great Basin Nat'l Park is something like the least visited in the Nat'l park system but it's beautiful. The Lehman caves tour is great, the bristlecone forest is amazing, and I want to go back at some point and do Wheeler Peak. If you stay in the lower campground, grab spot 17 between the lower and upper loops. It's on what looks like a service road. Great privacy with access to the bathrooms in the lower loop.
There used to be a cool oddity East of Fallon; the Shoe Tree. We came across it by accident when driving 50 in the Vanagon in '07. Vandals cut it down last fall, but my sister (who drives 50 frequently between SLC & Sac.) says people started another one somewhere along there.
Happy Camping,
Paul
Hwy 50 history
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alexane
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Joined: May 25, 2015
Posts: 11
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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Clearly the vote is for Hwy 50. I'm going to be driving out from Santa Cruz to Salt Lake in a newly rebuilt 85 Westy. 2.0L engine, all checked out. I've done Hwy 80 countless times, want to try something new.
Questions:
This will be my first ever trip in a Westy, so I don't know how much of a time buffer to give myself. Can I make it across Cali, through Reno, and through Nevada on hwy 50 in two days?
Are the mountain passes going to be a painful slow crawl?
Do I need to buy a gas can? Or if I just fill up at every opportunity, are there enough opportunities?
Is it dangerous to travel 50 alone? I plan to sleep in the Westy one night, hopefully in Austin.
Let me know what you think? |
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Syncro Jael
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Joined: December 19, 2013
Posts: 2204
Location: Utah
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| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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| alexane wrote: |
Clearly the vote is for Hwy 50. I'm going to be driving out from Santa Cruz to Salt Lake in a newly rebuilt 85 Westy. 2.0L engine, all checked out. I've done Hwy 80 countless times, want to try something new.
Questions:
This will be my first ever trip in a Westy, so I don't know how much of a time buffer to give myself. Can I make it across Cali, through Reno, and through Nevada on hwy 50 in two days?
Are the mountain passes going to be a painful slow crawl?
Do I need to buy a gas can? Or if I just fill up at every opportunity, are there enough opportunities?
Is it dangerous to travel 50 alone? I plan to sleep in the Westy one night, hopefully in Austin.
Let me know what you think? |
I just drove from Central Utah to the Syncrofest. Coming home I did it non stop. There are plenty of places for fuel along the way. The mountain passes are not bad to climb. Just make sure you have water and a cell phone. You can get coverage in a few spots. There are many spots you can stop and camp out too. If not there is enough traffic you can get help. Enjoy the trip! Much better than a boring interstate drive.
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Jael = (Mountain Goat) |
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Wildthings
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Joined: March 13, 2005
Posts: 52328
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| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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From Santa Cruz to SLC it going to take you only about 3 hours more than the fastest car out there can do it in, the average speed between your self and someone that wants to go as fast as possible just doesn't work out to be all that different.
In the desert I like to carry extra water, lots and lots of it. |
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djkeev
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Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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vegpedlr
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Joined: June 07, 2014
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Location: TBD
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| alexane wrote: |
Questions:
This will be my first ever trip in a Westy, so I don't know how much of a time buffer to give myself. Can I make it across Cali, through Reno, and through Nevada on hwy 50 in two days?
Are the mountain passes going to be a painful slow crawl?
Do I need to buy a gas can? Or if I just fill up at every opportunity, are there enough opportunities?
Is it dangerous to travel 50 alone? I plan to sleep in the Westy one night, hopefully in Austin.
Let me know what you think? |
I drove this back in September coming back from Moab in a van plagued with cooling gremlins.
1) 2 days is plenty, depending on how many hours in the saddle you like
2) There are several passes, but nothing as long and steep as the Sierras.
3) There are gas stations along the way. Fill up often.
4) I camped along the way. There are a couple of campgrounds near 50. I stayed at Bob Scott(?) When my cooling system acted up near Ely, the highway patrol was checking on me.
It's actually a pretty nice drive, but it is lonely. |
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Merian
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Joined: January 04, 2014
Posts: 5212
Location: Orygun
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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arid landscapes are best appreciated just after a wet spring
plants and animals are evolved to lie low until rare episodic events allow them to emerge, breed and then beat it on down the line until next time |
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Jake de Villiers
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Joined: October 24, 2007
Posts: 5930
Location: Tsawwassen, BC
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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| djkeev wrote: |
I am a true Eastern Boy who really likes the color GREEN!
I fail to have much love for the arid landscape. I understand that there is a beauty there, it just eludes me.
I think that God ran out of trees after suppling the Rockies and new inventory didn't arrive until he got to the Siskiyous and Coastal ranges....... 
That being said, I'll be in the great State of Nevada yet again this Summer but in the Northern part leaving Winnemucca headed to Crescent City. I love that barren highway for some odd reason.....
Dave |
hey Dave, be sure to go to the Martin Hotel in Winnemucca for a meal! Its an ancient Basque hotel on the Historic Register and is both an architectural and a culinary delight. Inexpensive, too. 
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kustomizingkid
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Joined: October 16, 2014
Posts: 142
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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50 is awesome!
I did it in a 1.6D caddy with a dirtbike in the bed... And my AC compressor froze in Moad 250 miles later  |
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dlb154
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Joined: December 27, 2006
Posts: 359
Location: Reno, NV
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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| If you can find tickets (pretty much impossible now and not cheap) Burning Man is worth a visit if you're never been. It's truly unique. Exaggerated stories some have heard are not the norm. It's not too far from Reno and you can find your way back down to HWY 50 afterwards. Laborday weekend... |
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Wildthings
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Posts: 52328
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Merian wrote: |
arid landscapes are best appreciated just after a wet spring
plants and animals are evolved to lie low until rare episodic events allow them to emerge, breed and then beat it on down the line until next time |
At the pass levels, spring doesn't necessarily come until late June or even well into July. When traveling in the Basin and Range province I like to stop at the top of the passes and take short hikes to break upf the drive. On the same days that the basins feel like they are on fire, the flowers in the passes are apt to be incredible. |
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IdahoDoug
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Joined: June 12, 2010
Posts: 10355
Location: N. Idaho
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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I will third the comments to check out the high desert. Or fourth, or whatever. Deserts are fascinating to me. The first year my wife and I were married, we spent several weekends out exploring the deserts within reach of SoCal. One of my favorite things to do was wake at 5am and wander in about a mile radius of camp with my eyes glued to the terrain for a couple hours. They were tailor made for solo wandering, though personal capability and preparation are key. I also love the woods, but wandering solo there lacks the miles-long sight lines of the desert that make exploring it so unique.
Anyhow, you are correct there is something there not to be missed. And many posters are correct in that you will know what it was you shouldn't have missed when you leave and wish for another day to look around.
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LemonCove
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Joined: July 29, 2010
Posts: 324
Location: Henderson, NV
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| alexane wrote: |
| Can I make it across Cali, through Reno, and through Nevada on hwy 50 in two days? |
You could, but slow down and enjoy it. I'd do at least one nite at Great Basin NP. Hike, cave, stargaze.
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shepherdsond
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Joined: April 25, 2005
Posts: 452
Location: Bellingham, WA
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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x3 (or is it 4) for Great Basin NP. Camp at the top campsite under Wheeler Peak (spectacular views from the summit). Also the Ruby Mtn range near Elko..
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