Historical stops wanted! Indian wars, California Trail, Mormons etc.
I’ll be leaving San Francisco early in the morning and plan to stop at Donner Pass. I’ve driven thru NV on I80 a couple times before but never come across anything I wanted to stop at and explore…thinking of taking US50 this time.
I’ve spent about two hours in Salt Lake City before … how does one separate the history and the Mormon doctrine when looking for places to visit? Not that I have any problem at all with the doctrine and I realize that it is an integral part of the history.
LMK if there is a not-to-be-missed park or hike as well.
US-50 is nice. Something different instead of taking I-80. The road is in great shape although it’s mostly a 2-lane road (1 lane each dir) so keep your eyes peeled at the oncoming traffic. It has been 2 years since I last drove it across NV.
ETA: Sand Mountain is nice. The old shoe tree is gone, I think. There’s a Pony Express Station to walk out to. You only see a few walls.
What’s your destination? Golden Spike National Historic Site at Promontory Peak is a good visit. It’s north of SLC.
Salt Lake has a cool dinosaur museum at the University of Utah. (OK, it’s a “natural history” museum. But everyone knows that people really come to see the dinosaurs. Who gives a shit about trilobite fossils?)
Once you go over the pass past SLC, you enter this valley that makes you feel like you were transported back 100 years in time. I stayed in the “quaint” little town of Coalville, and really enjoyed taking in the scenery. Or, stay in Park City. But do take some time to appreciate the beauty of that area.
The University also has a good, though small, art gallery.
There are plenty of other historical sites in Salt Lake City, too, which you can easily find on the internet. But I suspect the OP is looking for stuff outside the big cities.
You can look at the old Pony Express route, although it mostly passes south of I-80, the interstate you’ll be taking from San Francisco:
If you don’t find it too grisly, you can follow the Donner Party route:
You can stop at Elko, Nevada, which has a lot of history. It also has (or at least until recently HAD) four legal brothels, although most guides won’t mention those. (You can look those up on Wikipedia)
Here’s a guide to I-80 historical sites in Nevada:
If you take US 50, Eureka is worth a short stop. The Opera House is nicely restored and there’s a small museum across the street. Great Basin National Park has hiking opportunities and Lehman Caves is pretty neat.
On I-80, there’s a funky/kind of scary art installation/junkyard called Thunder Mountain Monument between Lovelock and Winnemucca. The old airbase in Wendover where the crew of the Enola Gay trained might be of interest, and just east of Wendover you can take a short drive out to the Bonneville Salt Flats.
US50 is a great road through Nevada - a little slower than the interstate, but the scenery is worth the extra time. If you have time, stop at Great Basin National Park and take a tour of Lehman Cave. It’s well worth the $8-10 per person. If you can spend the night there, it’s also an amazing place to see stars.
Best vacation drive of my life was on the 50. I went through “Skull Rock Pass” at midnight, under a full moon, listening to old “Lone Ranger” episodes on a distant radio station. Best environment ever!
What really startled me was how clear the air was. You’d see a car ahead, and dim your headlights, as polite drivers do. Then five or ten minutes would go by before you passed each other. Headlights at 20 miles away looked like they do, here at Sea Level, at half a mile.
I’ve lived in a few places along your route. Were I to drive again I would take highway 50. We are currently in Carson City. It is more scenic from the West to go to South Tahoe and then to Carson city. There is a lot of history here and in Virginia city a few miles away, Google says 30 miles and 16 minutes. There is a camel ranch a few miles further on 50 and beyond that wild horses nay be seen. Wild horses just look like horses to me. A lot of history took place in Austin but I don’t know how tourist friendly it is. Whenever we travel East we definitely stop in Eureka, then Baker, Zion and the North Rim and the dam at Page.
The Bingham Canyon open pit copper mine southwest of Salt Lake City is one of the largest in the world, and has a popular visitors center. It is over half a mile deep and 2.5 miles across.
Copper was discovered in Bingham Canyon by my ancestors, Erastus Bingham and his two sons. That rat bastard Brigham Young told them there would be no mining there however, as farming was more important to the early Utah settlement. They didn’t even file a claim. If it weren’t for him, I might have been a lot richer. But the name stuck on the canyon, until others began mining.
Find Bodie - the last 7 miles are where you regret that “feeling the road” sensation you paid extra for.
It’s the most spectacular ghost town I’ve seen - hard-rock gold mining town that went bust, then over half was lost to fire.
You’ll see little piles of lumber - a bunch of 6’ planks in a pile. Those were pup tents that men actually called home.
It’s off 395 a bit above the remains of Mono Lake. Look carefully for the sign.
Also in Carson City (if you’re not way past that by the time you read this), there is a railroad museum there. Or maybe you could visit that on the way back. There is also a railroad museum in “Old Town” Sacramento you could visit (again, maybe on your way back).
I’m glad that US50 is getting high marks…pretty much set on going that way. The Park City area might be a good thought and I do plan on going to Ft Bridger.
From there its on toward Chicago…perhaps I should have opened up Wyoming for suggestions. I was also thinking of dropping down into Northern Colorado as I’ve never been north of I70/west of Rocky Mountain NP.
OP, I thought you were gone, perhaps you are on the road, anyway you mentioned Mormon history. Highway 89 runs the length of Utah in a North South direction is very scenic and has Mormons and Mormon history the entire way. 89 and 50 have a junction somewhere in Utah.
If you take I80, there is a pretty cool museum a little east of Elko. Free admission!
The camel ranch is history, but there is a nut with tigers a couple miles from where it was and more nuts with wallabies across the highway. Exotic animals, microbrew, wholesale socks and foreign car service. Currently, the wild horses are loitering around Silver Springs, near the airport.
You can also see the dry lake where the movie The Misfits was filmed. Big Fucking Deal.
Great place, but pretty far off the route. Not even in the right state.
Reporting back that US50 was a good choice. Good road, 70MPH speed limits, little traffic and easy to pass when necessary. A few cool little towns to check out. If it isn’t too far out of your way I’d recommend it as an alternative to I80.
Forget about swimming in great salt Lake-you have to walk way out to get to knee depyh. Visit lake tahoe-that is worth all the other stuff put together.
Exotic animals, microbrew, wholesale socks and foreign car service. Currently, the wild horses are loitering around Silver Springs, near the airport.