AT SOME POINT, most visitors to Reno/Tahoe realize they must travel here several times to truly begin to discover and appreciate all the area has to offer. The majestic Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe and the adjacent valleys holding Minden, Gardnerville, Genoa and Carson City provide days of exploration and pleasure. Fine dining, shopping, golf, hiking, boating and world famous Nevada gaming and nightlife abound.

Alas, many of you reading this will not have ventured far past the shadows of the Sierra Nevada. Virtually next door are historic Virginia City and Pyramid Lake, both short drives from the glittering neon lights, and well worth a day’s inspection. Past these close-by outposts; however, is more.

“Ah ha,” you exclaim, “there is NOTHING out there, it’s only desert! It’s the middle of NO WHERE!” Well, you don’t have to be a hermit-like desert-rat to appreciate Nevada’s inner wonders. There is a world of adventure, high-desert mountain ranges and valleys, historic mining towns and ghost towns just lying in wait. You might discover a beautiful opera house, stunning 19th century churches, a castle, an operating steam locomotive and yes, maybe even an alien landing site or two!

Wide open space, as well as being beautiful, can be an effective barrier. For many of the early pioneers rushing to the gold fields of California in the mid 1850’s or Oregon’s green valleys, Nevada was just that: a barrier to be gotten over or around. Many travelers today, moving at freeway speeds or gazing out of airliner windows from 35,000 feet, feel much the same way. However, on closer inspection, you may just change your mind.

Head out of Reno going north, south or east, but as long as you stay west of the Sierra Nevada, you’ll be in an area known as the Great Basin. The Great Basin is so named because all water that runs or falls into it, stays within its boundary; no water flows out to the sea. Much of Nevada and Utah, with small areas in California, Oregon, Idaho and even Wyoming make up the Great Basin (see map).

The Great Basin has been inhabited for thousands of years by many Native American tribes including the Shoshone, Paiute and Washo. Archaeological sites dating back as far as 11,000 years ago have been found. Ancient petroglyphs are not uncommon, but those at Grime’s Point, just east of Fallon on US Highway 50 are well marked and easily accessible.

US Highway 50 is a great road to begin your explorations of inner Nevada. In 1986, the highway was dubbed the “Loneliest Road in America” by Life magazine. Life went on to say there were no points of interest on the road and recommended that drivers have “survival skills.” After driving this highway, you’ll know better. Entering Nevada from California at Lake Tahoe, Highway 50 ribbons its way across Nevada to the Great Basin National Park on the state’s eastern edge before entering Utah. The highway itself is an adventure. Roughly following the path of the original Pony Express and Overland Stagecoach trails, the route was first named the Lincoln Highway that ran from New York to California. In fact, the Lincoln Highway was conceived in 1913 to be the first transcontinental highway specifically designed for the automobile. Highway 50 might be called lonely for its lack of modern freeway congestion, but it’s packed with history and offers great escapes from the doldrums of much of today’s driving.

IF YOU YEARN FOR A SIMPLER TIME, when the traveling was just as important as the destination, this road is for you. Highway 50 is not a road to be rushed, with only time schedules and final stops in mind. It is a road that comes alive when traveled at a leisurely pace, when mountain summits lead to breathtaking valley vistas and sudden turns bring you face to face with mining towns of the 1800’s. It is a road to roll the windows down and enjoy the fragrance of a fresh rain squall on sagebrush. Along its route, you’ll travel from glacial lakes, through high desert valleys, over intermountain ranges slowly being squeezed between the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Rocky Mountains on the east. It is a road to savor.

Listing the towns from west to east is easy: Carson City, Dayton, Fallon, Austin, Eureka, Ely and Baker with the adjacent Great Basin National Park. Each town and park has so much to recommend, it is too much for this publication to do them justice. Some quick highlights include Austin’s International Hotel, Eureka’s Opera House, the Ward Charcoal Ovens west of Ely, the still operating steam railroad in Ely (recently named a Historic Landmark) and the Great Basin National Park with 13,063 foot Wheeler Peak, Lehman Caves and 5,000 year old bristlecone pine trees. A quick search of the official website of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, travelnevada.com, will give you useful information on these and other Nevada locations.

From Ely, a drive south on US Highway 93, the “Great Basin Highway,” gives one plenty of time to appreciate the isolated appeal of the Great Basin’s north/south valleys. Highway 93, designated a scenic highway, will lead you to the historic town of Pioche which is close to four of Nevada’s state parks: Spring Valley State Park, Echo Canyon State Park, Cathedral Gorge State Park and Kershaw-Ryan State Park. Continuing on Highway 93, through Caliente, Crystal Springs and some very engaging canyon and cactus landscapes, Nevada State Route 375 is joined. It seems that Nevadans just love to name their “special” routes, and this is no exception. Route 375 is fondly called the “Extraterrestrial Highway” and it borders the famous “Area 51,” home to countless sightings of unidentified flying objects. If you don’t believe it, just stop in Rachel, Nevada, at the Little A’Le’Inn, and they’ll set you straight. Earthlings are welcome.

State Route 375 takes you to US Highway 6, which followed west leads to Tonopah. Silver was discovered in Tonopah in 1900 creating another mining boom for the state. Today, Tonopah is home to the Tonopah Historic Mining Park and the Central Nevada Museum. Not far south of Tonopah is Goldfield, Nevada. Goldfield is worth the extra drive to see the old Goldfield Hotel (supposedly one of the most haunted sites in America), the Goldfield Bank and the Consolidated Offices of the Goldfield Mines. As with most of Nevada’s living “ghost towns,” Goldfield is a great walkers’ delight with new discoveries around every corner; and don’t forget your camera.If you head back north on US Highway 95 to return to the Reno/Tahoe area, you will have completed a large loop in the Great Basin. The journey north will pass through Hawthorne and the Hawthorne Army Ammunition plant, then past Walker Lake and on to US 95 ALT which will take you to Yerington and north to Fort Churchill State Historic Park.

TAKING THE TIME TO TRAVEL these Nevada roads will have let you win one of the many “hidden jackpots” the Silver State has to offer. Whether you schedule an extra day’s trip to some of the closer locations or take the time to spend several days or weeks in the exploration, you’re the winner.

John Richardson, co-publisher of the Reno/Tahoe Visitor, and his wife, Dana, rode their motorcycles through Nevada’s Great Basin in the summer of 2007 along a similar route he describes in this article.