Photo Courtesy (Doug Saito)
Ely, Nevada is quite literally in the middle of nowhere. I swear. In 1986, Life Magazine called US Highway 50 from Carson City to Ely the Loneliest Road In America. They were right! The highway actually stretches from Sacramento, California to Ocean City, Maryland, but once you leave Lake Tahoe and travel through Carson City you'll understand how it got that name!
Sure, Nevada has 50 cities and towns with casinos (didn't know that Nevada even had 50 towns, did you?), but taking that road trip (320 miles of desert like the surface of the moon) sure gets spooky. After Leaving Carson you get to look forward to the towns of Fallon, Austin and Eureka. And, you can take a look at the ghost town of Ruth. Stephen King wrote Desperation after passing the old ruins there before he hit Ely. My advice is: wait to read the book until after your trip!
If you gamble, let it be known that Ely has one of the oldest casinos in the state, the Nevada Hotel. Bert Riddick, the most colorful owner of the casino, operated the hotel from the 1930's until the 1950's. Constructed in 1929, the tallest structure in Nevada (until the 1940's) at six-stories cost over $450,000 to build. Today, it's the only one of four casinos in town with table games.
The Copper Queen Casino and the Prospectors Casino are each attached to a hotel and offer about 70 slots to choose from as does the interestingly named Jailhouse Motel and Casino. It's always fun to tell your friends later that you stayed at the Jailhouse in Ely, Nevada.
By the way, when you head out in the morning, remember that the next town along eastbound Highway 50 is Delta, Utah at 162 miles. Better pack some sandwiches!
Comments
I stayed at the Nevada Hotel in Ely in the summer of 1991. I drove up US 93 from Las Vegas, and it was a great experience. I felt as though I was going back in time; the few towns you pass through are so quiet and sleepy, and you don’t see a chain motel or fast food restaurant for close to three hundred miles. The hotel charged fifteen dollars for my room; I believe it was up to thirty five dollars the last time I checked. I drove from Ely to Reno down the “loneliest road in America” the next day, and that was also a memorable experience. Reno seemed like the Emerald City after driving an entire day in the desert. I would love to go back to Ely and spend an entire week there.
If finding gasoline is not a problem, I may consider this trip.