Need route advise traveling to Carson City, NV

[Sabrina]

Hi there,

I'm going to Carson City, NV for a couple of days next week, and I'm wondering what's the difference between taking Hwy. 50 from Sacramento, vs taking 80 and then cutting down to 395. The 80 route looks longer, and the route 50 has a reputation of being very beautiful, but I don't want to be stuck on some mountain road somewhere with no humans in site and run out of gas or it's so high I hit a snow storm, or who knows what. Does anyone have advise as to the difference between these two routes?

Thanks for any tips!

Sabrina

[Tars]

I'm going to Carson City, NV for a couple of days next week, and I'm wondering what's the difference between taking Hwy. 50 from Sacramento, vs taking 80 and then cutting down to 395.

I've taken both routes, so many times I can't count. Both routes have some pretty good scenery. I actually think the route 80 scenery is prettier, but I'm biased towards mountains & trees. There are some real choke points on 80 where impatient weekenders get pretty aggressive.

The going on route 50 is much slower. For large parts of it the speeds are down to 25-35 mph, because of alot of sharp curves & up & down. It's similar to driving Hwy. 1, but less scenic. 50 goes thru a lot of small 1-pump towns, and is mostly two-lane. If you want to spend a much larger portion of your driving time behind the wheel, 50 is the route for you.

try this
If you want to see what highway driving was like before the interstates, give yourself a couple of days sometime, to drive 50 across Nevada. There's a whole lot of nuthin' out there! Be sure your vehicles' in dependable condition though. There are stretches there where it's over 100 miles between fuel stops, with nothing in-between; there ain't any cell towers out there either, so don't break down! A likely location for mutant cannibals who prey on travelers...

Tars