Customer Reviews

Traveling America's Loneliest Road: A Geologic and Natural History Tour through Nevada along U.S. Highway 50

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"Close enough for government work" is a slam with a core message that is demolished by Tingley and Pizarro's book. The inside cover makes it clear that this book, published by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, is keyed to the designation by the Nevada Legislature of US 50 as the official "Loneliest Road." Thus forwarned to what by conventional wisdom ought to be a badly-organized piece of legislation-inspired junk, I was blown out of the water (OK, sand) by the photos (plenty of color but also outstanding B&W), organization, and clear and enthusiastic writing. The emphasis is on geology over social history, but the interaction between the two is always made clear. And it's not just history--wise comments re the possible sound of Sand Mountain versus the reality of OHV roaring alert readers to what is worth stopping for. Anyone traveling through Nevada on US 50 as opposed to I-80 or I-15 must be a tourist. This book gets granular for you.

I am seriously addicted to these Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology books. They lead you by milepost on such wonderful tours. You'll want to grab your camera, rock hammer and pocket protector, and hit the road with this one.

There are a lot of excellent maps in this spiral-bound book. The Great Basin offers many surprises to those who leave the Interstate. Enjoy.

I only learned about this book just before our trip began, and there wasn't time to order it. I searched several communities for this book before finding it at the Economy Drug Store in Ely, Nevada. I also purchased guides from the same series for Highway 93, and later, the Reno area guide.

The only drawback was that we were driving east to west, and the guide was oriented the other way, so we were paging through it backward to identify mines, geologic features, interesting sites, and more. By the way, it also reads well frontward.

I especially like the mining and geologic detail, something usually omitted by the travel book writers who are busy hunting for their next gourmet French restaurant.

I would not travel without these three books, and I suspect one of my previous travel guides will be retired in favor of one of these. The spiral binding makes it easy to hold the book open at the right area, the high quality paper means no tearing and wear (as long as you take reasonable care), and the color sections are delightful as well.

By the way, the Toiyabe Cafe in Austin, NV, is a terrific place. Their winter hours are only 6 am to 2 pm, so if you are on the road, plan to be in the right place at the right time. It was one of the best meals we had on the trip.

Back to this book - I found only one consistent error - the authors can't spell Haslam - it appears as Haslum throughout the text, but it is correct in captions.

I'll forgive them for this, as a good job was done on the rest of it. This book assured that we would miss very little on the main highway, and we always knew what to look for in advance. Muddy conditions made it impractical to leave improved roads (we tried), but we had a great time on the highway.

I hope that more areas of Nevada will be covered by this series - I suspect there's probably a Las Vegas one in the works. I especially liked the explanations of things like why tailings are a different color - no weathering, and they may be of a different composition than the surface rock, and from the Reno book, the explanation of self-sorted stone stripes. I didn't even know that these things were an occurrence - I thought it was just the soil eroding away from low areas and exposing the rock.

By the way, if you follow this guide, be sure to view the copper mine in Ruth, NV, (out of Ely) from the overlook. The overlook itself was closed, but we watched the haul trucks and every other piece of heavy equipment traveling on the haul roads. Even with persistent falling snow and fog, we saw a lot, and look forward to seeing the place again when the sun is out.

I have a confession to make. When I live in a place that has ice and snow on the ground for twenty-something days; the temperature hovers around the cold mark (anything below 50 degrees Fahrenheit;)and my home heating bills are larger than my mortage payment, I frequently contract cabin fever. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, looking at maps, howling at the moon (when available), chasing parked cars, and reading travel books. I know, I know, it's only the beginning of winter and readers are typically not standing in line to get tickets for their summer vacations. However, to my surprise I find that a number of libraries have very popular travel programs that start in January. Could it be that others are afflicted with this seemingly incurable malaise? Thus, you can imagine my delight in finding a copy of this wonderful travel book. My wife and I traveled U.S. Highway 50, christened "The Loneliest Road in America" by Time magazine, across Nevada a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, while we had a number of obligatory travel books of this region, this one was not available. I can't believe how much we missed! Since it was published by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, it is a specialized travel book. But don't let that fool you. While it is chock full of information on the geology, flora, and fauna of the region it is so much more. In addition to being highly readable it has 70 color photos, 170 black & white photos and an abundance of illustrations, maps, and sketches. The book takes the traveler along this historic Lincoln Highway from Carson City to Baker and introduces you to a unique Nevada adventure complete with national forests, deserts, and a National Park, Great Basin, that many travelers don't even know exists. About the only thing you will miss is the diesel fume spewing monsters pulling full grown homes and bumper-to-bumper traffic at every milepost. During our visit to Great Basin National Park we encountered perhaps a dozen cars. The book has a helpful road log keyed to highway markers. The trip will take you from ghost towns to Pony Express stations and so many side trips into areas of pristine beauty that you will be hard pressed to believe you are in Nevada, which is, after all just a lot of desert, right? You might even visit a lake that produces some of the best trout fishing in the State and stop for a picnic lunch under aspens that will take your breath away. How about stopping in Fallon and visiting the Naval Air Station and Strike and Air Warfare Center, the Navy's Top Gun training center. Riding the "Ghost Train" from Ely is a trip you won't forget. We discovered the works of Nevada poet Kirk Robertson in a small bookshop in Eureka, which has a beaufifully restored historic courthouse. Kind of a special two for one deal. If you are looking for the fastest way to traverse Nevada complete with four lanes of pavement, interchanges, and fast food stops, Highway 50 is not for you. On the other hand, if you have just a touch of adventure in your soul and don't mind beautiful scenery, historic ambiance, and lots of space, this is worth your time. I would not make this the only travel guide to take on such a trip but I would not leave home without it. Take heart fellow sufferers, spring and summer is coming and this book will remind you why the wait is worth it.