Sacramento Pass

Sacramento Pass carries US 6 and US 50 over the Snake Range in eastern Nevada, in White Pine County. The summit sits at 7,154 ft (2,181 m). Here the two highways run together, climbing from the basin near Majors Place, the junction of US 6, US 50, and US 93, up toward the high country below Wheeler Peak. This is the main east-west crossing of the eastern Great Basin. It links Ely, the White Pine County seat about 40 miles west, with the Utah state line and the road on toward Delta.

For truckers, the draw and the danger are the same thing: distance. US 50 across Nevada is the road Life magazine called the Loneliest Road in America back in July 1986, and the name stuck. Services are far apart. The crossing is a real one, over 7,100 ft, and winter weather up here is harsh. If you are running eastbound out of Ely, the steeper climb hits you first at Connors Pass, then you cross Sacramento Pass before Utah.

The pass is also the highway gateway to Great Basin National Park. NV-487 and NV-488 leave US 6-50 just before the Utah line and run south toward Baker and the park. The Sacramento Pass Recreation Area, a BLM campground, sits along the highway at about 6,851 ft, below the road summit itself. Plan fuel and rest with the long gaps in mind, and check conditions before you climb in winter.

• Summit elevation is 7,154 ft / 2,181 m on US 6-50 over the Snake Range (Wikipedia US-50 in Nevada; AARoads; SoCalRegion)
• Located in White Pine County, eastern Nevada, about 40 miles east of Ely or 15 miles west of the Utah line (BLM)
• US 6 and US 50 run together here, climbing east of Majors Place near Wheeler Peak at 13,063 ft (AARoads)
• The BLM Sacramento Pass Recreation Area campground sits at about 6,851 ft, below the road summit (Nevada Horse Trails)
• Eastbound drivers from Ely cross Connors Pass, 7,729 ft and the highest point on US-50 in Nevada, before reaching Sacramento Pass (Wikipedia US-50 in Nevada)
• Nevada chains run on R1, R2, and R3 levels posted by condition, not by calendar (NDOT Traction and Chains Requirement Descriptions)
• Vehicles over 10,000 lb must chain when posted, or run Mechanical Traction Devices on the drive axles (NDOT)

There is no fixed chain-control season here. Nevada does not run this corridor on a Tahoe-style calendar program. Instead, NDOT posts traction levels condition by condition when a winter storm rolls in, and lifts them when the weather clears. The levels are R1 (chains required, snow-tread tires allowed), R2 (chains required except on four-wheel or all-wheel drive vehicles with snow tires on all four wheels), and R3 (chains required, no exceptions). Trucks over 10,000 lb must chain when a level is posted, or run Mechanical Traction Devices on the drive axles. There is no NDOT-named chain-up area or brake-check pullout verified at the pass, so watch Nevada 511 (nvroads.com) to see whether an R-level is up on US-50 in White Pine County before you climb.

The road's reputation came from a magazine. In July 1986, Life ran the article that branded US-50 across Nevada the Loneliest Road in America, and the state embraced it rather than fight it. South and west of the pass, in the Snake Range, lies Osceola, a former gold-mining town. The BLM and local trail records still reference the historic Osceola town site and the Blackhorse Mining District near the pass. The Snake Range south of US-50 later became Great Basin National Park, and the pass is the highway gateway to it by way of NV-487 and NV-488.

One myth is worth correcting. US 50 here follows the broad central-Nevada transcontinental corridor that the Lincoln Highway later used, but the original 1913 Lincoln Highway did not cross Sacramento Pass. Per the Lincoln Highway Association and Travel Nevada, that first alignment entered eastern Nevada on a more northerly line, near Ibapah and over Schellbourne Pass down to Ely, before heading west. The Pony Express followed a route through this region too, but the historic trail ties to the broad area, not to a crossing of this exact pass.