Driving Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway (Route 375)
Driving Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway (Route 375)
By: By a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
Dear Henry,
I finally did it.
I know, it’s a total geek thing, but I have always wanted to drive the Extra-Terrestrial Highway, otherwise known as Nevada State Route 375. Some roads call to you quietly for years before you finally listen.
We left Mesquite, Nevada, early in the morning and headed out into the desert, making sure to top off the gas tank in Crystal Springs. After that, there’s nothing until Warm Springs, and the desert doesn’t care if you planned poorly.
The landscape out there is stark in the way only the high desert can be, empty, silent, and oddly watchful. Driving through such a barren stretch, especially so close to a secret military installation, invites your imagination to wander. You can’t help but look up a little more than usual, half-expecting something strange to cross the sky.
What I wasn’t prepared for was how much the desolation asks of you.
Radio stations fade in and out, cell service is sporadic at best, and eventually the road becomes so quiet that there’s nothing left to distract you. A highway this empty leaves you alone with your own thoughts for miles at a time. You talk to yourself. You replay conversations. You notice the ache in your shoulders and the way your mind circles when there’s nowhere else to go.
It’s a grueling drive spent almost entirely in your own head. And unless you plan to pull off into the desert, perhaps to wait things out with the residents of a UFO, your only real option is to see it through.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see anything. No lights. No unexplained shapes. No sudden visitors. Maybe it was because it was a Wednesday, perhaps new arrivals don’t happen midweek. The only aliens we encountered were the painted, deliberately kitschy ones in Rachel, Nevada, a very small town along the route with a café, a handful of buildings, and not much else.
The food, however, is genuinely good. They sell souvenirs, too, and I highly recommend stopping for a burger. Even the most desolate highways deserve a decent meal.
What I did learn is that the stretch from Mesquite to Reno is exhausting to drive straight through. The miles stack up quietly, and the emptiness demands more from you than expected.
Some roads can't be rushed, not even when you’re chasing UFOs.
____________________________________________________________________________
About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
✨ #TakeTheBackRoads
Enjoyed this post? Support the adventure by visiting my sponsors, shopping the gallery, or buying me a cup of coffee!
