The Great Basin Scenic Byway is a 148-mile crossing of high desert by US 93 between Crystal Springs and Ely. This stretch of countryside is just west of Great Basin National Park and passes by Beaver Dam, Cathedral Gorge, Cave Lake, Echo Canyon, Kershaw-Ryan, Spring Valley and Ward Charcoal Ovens State Parks. You'll also pass by the Mount Grafton Wilderness and a few miles east of there is the Fortification Range Wilderness. Between Caliente and Crystal Springs, the Big Rocks Wilderness is to the north of Pahroc Summit and the South Pahroc Range Wilderness is to the south. Lots of history out here, some of it going back 10,000 years and more... and when you get to Crystal Springs, make the right onto SR 375 (the Extraterrestrial Highway)... or at Ely follow US 50 west (the Loneliest Road in America).
