Robinson Summit

Robinson Summit sits on US-50 in White Pine County, central-eastern Nevada, west of Ely in the Egan Range. It tops out at about 7,600 ft. Sources put the exact number somewhere between 7,588 and 7,641 ft, so treat "about 7,600 ft" as the honest figure rather than a single precise one. This is high-desert country, not a Sierra or Tahoe pass, and that distinction matters for what you carry and what you check before the run.

US-50 across this stretch is the road they call "The Loneliest Road in America." It is two lanes of remote, open desert with long gaps between fuel and help. Robinson Summit is the highest of four named passes on the run between Eureka and Ely, joining Pinto, Pancake, and Little Antelope. The climb from Ely is long and gradual, roughly 1,150 ft of gain over about 18 miles. A few pitches reportedly reach 8 percent, but the road never feels like a short steep grade. The defining features here are distance and exposure.

For a trucker, the main concerns are wind, blowing snow, and isolation. The summit is exposed enough that NDOT runs a dedicated weather station and RWIS camera here. About 77 miles separate Eureka and Ely with minimal services in between, so if conditions turn, your bailout options are thin. Robinson Summit is normally open all year. When it closes, a specific storm or a crash causes it, and you find out through Nevada 511.

• Located in the Egan Range, White Pine County, central-eastern Nevada, west of Ely (Wikipedia, Topozone)
• Elevation about 7,600 ft, with sources ranging from 7,588 to 7,641 ft (AARoads, Wikipedia, WindAlert/NDOT station)
• Highest of four named US-50 passes between Eureka and Ely, alongside Pinto (7,376 ft), Pancake (6,521 ft), and Little Antelope (7,438 ft) (AARoads)
• Climb from Ely runs about 1,150 ft over roughly 18 miles, gradual rather than steep, with pitches reported up to 8 percent (cyclepass.com, dangerousroads.org)
• About 77 miles separate Eureka and Ely with minimal services in between (AARoads)
• NDOT runs a dedicated weather station and RWIS camera at the summit because of the wind (WindAlert/NDOT station, traffic-cams.com)
• Part of US-50, known as The Loneliest Road in America

Robinson Summit is not one of Nevada's permanent chain-control corridors. The state's standing traction restrictions sit far to the west near Tahoe, on Mount Rose Highway (SR-431), Kingsbury Grade, and US-50 between Glenbrook and Carson City. There is no permanent, named chain-up station at Robinson Summit the way the Tahoe passes have, and no specific mile-marker chain-control point. What can happen is event-driven. During a storm, NDOT or Nevada Highway Patrol can impose a traction or chain restriction here, and they enforce it. When that happens, you carry approved chains, or run 4WD or AWD with M+S or snowflake-rated snow tires holding at least 3/16 inch of tread. The posted limit in a chain-restriction area is commonly 25 mph. There is no fixed seasonal open or close date. Any active restriction or closure goes up on nvroads.com and Nevada 511, so check it before you commit to the run.

In July 1986, Life magazine ran an article that branded this stretch of US-50 "The Loneliest Road in America," quoting AAA that the route had "no points of interest" and warning drivers not to attempt it without survival skills. Nevada turned the insult into a campaign. By 1988 the state's tourism commission had handed out more than 12,000 "survival guide" kits, and the Nevada Legislature authorized the official "Loneliest Road in America" signs that still mark the corridor.

The road itself is older than that name. US-50 across central Nevada was earlier State Route 2, shown on maps by 1919, and it became part of the U.S. Highway System in 1926. A 1954 map shows the routing realigned to enter Utah via Delta rather than the original Salt Lake City alignment. Robinson Summit sits between Eureka and Ely. Ely started as a Pony Express and Overland stage station and boomed after copper was discovered there in 1906, the era of the Nevada Northern Railway and its "Ghost Train of Old Ely." Eureka's Opera House dates to 1880.