page_title: U.S. Route 50
section_title: Western U.S.
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 50 / Route description / Western U.S.
caption_attribution_description: English: Taken along US 50 in Nevada, August 25, 2005. This section is colloquially referred to as "the Loneliest Road in America".
context_page_description: U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over 3,000 miles from Interstate 80 in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic Ocean. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near the Pacific Ocean. The Interstates were constructed later and are mostly separate from this route. It generally serves a corridor south of I-70 and I-80 and north of I-64 and I-40.
  The route runs through mostly rural desert and mountains in the western United States, with the section through Nevada known as "The Loneliest Road in America". In the Midwest, US 50 heads through mostly rural areas of farms as well as a few large cities including Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; and Cincinnati, Ohio.
  The route continues into the eastern United States, where it passes through the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia before heading through Washington, D.C. From there, US 50 continues through Maryland as a high-speed road to Ocean City.
context_section_description: US 50 begins as a major freeway at its junction with Interstate 80 in West Sacramento and continues into Sacramento. The portion of US 50 west of and including its interchange with California's State Highway 99 in Sacramento is also designated, but not signed as, Interstate 305. The signage along this portion of the highway indicates Business Loop I-80 and a portion of the way (2 miles/3.33 km) as California State Highway 99. From Sacramento, the highway heads eastward as the William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. Memorial Highway, continuing as a freeway to the Gold Country foothills, then following the American River up the Sierra Nevada as a conventional highway, until cresting the Sierras at Echo Summit and descending to Lake Tahoe, where the highway enters Nevada. In Nevada, the highway crosses a series of north–south running mountain ranges that break up the Nevada desert which are called Basin and Range. East of Carson City, the road enters the heart of the Great Basin, passing by few communities and minimal services, giving it the name "Loneliest Road in America" until reaching Utah.
  In Utah, US 50 also passes through desolate, remote areas with few inhabitants. After crossing the Confusion Range via Kings Canyon and the House Range, the road traverses the north shore of the endorheic Sevier Lake. In Holden, US 50 shortly overlaps Interstate 15 to cross the Pavant Range. The road begins a much longer overlap with Interstate 70 in Salina crossing the Wasatch Plateau and San Rafael Swell into Colorado. US 50 leaves I-70 upon entering the state and heads southeast through Grand Junction and into the southern part of Colorado. Once there, the road climbs to its highest elevation of 11,312 feet (3,448 m) over the Rocky Mountains and in Monarch Pass where it crosses the Continental Divide. After descending from the Rockies, US 50 passes by Royal Gorge near Cañon City then joins U.S. Route 400 in Granada and follows the Arkansas River into Kansas.
caption: US 50 in the Nevada desert
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