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28-597: Several small mountain ranges occupy the edges of the desert, such as the Cedar Mountains , Lakeside Mountains, Silver Island Mountains , Hogup Mountains , Grassy Mountains, and Newfoundland Mountains. On the western edge of the desert, just across the border in Nevada, stands Pilot Peak in the Pilot Range . The desert is cool during the winter and includes unusual plants adapted to the dry conditions. Most of

56-592: A depressed alignment before intersecting I-580 / US 395 . The interchange with US 395 is the busiest portion, averaging 122,000 vehicles per day in 2006. The freeway passes through downtown Sparks via a viaduct over the casino floor of the Nugget Casino Resort . After leaving the Reno metropolitan area, the freeway resumes following the Truckee River in a canyon to Fernley and passes

84-813: A transportation corridor since the California Gold Rush of the 1840s. The Nevada portion of I-80 has been designated as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway and Purple Heart Trail. I-80 enters Nevada in the canyon of the Truckee River , paralleling the California Trail and first transcontinental railroad . Upon exiting the canyon, the freeway serves the Truckee Meadows , a name for the urban area consisting of Verdi , Reno , and Sparks . The freeway passes north of downtown Reno in

112-401: Is only moderate elevation 6000+ ft in the north, 5000+ ft in the southeast, but contains numerous springs on all its foothills. Three mountain passes dissect the range. Hastings Pass and North Cedar Loop Road access an extreme north region. Rydalch Pass and Canyon are 4 mi north of the southeast section region; Six Horse Pass is at the bisection point, with unimproved access roads from

140-492: Is within visual distance of the river for most of this run. However, there are portions where the freeway bypasses bends by cutting across or tunneling under mountains along the canyon walls. Between Winnemucca and Battle Mountain, the freeway bypasses bends via side canyons and Golconda Summit, 5,159 feet (1,572 m). The highway also bypasses Palisade Canyon , between Beowawe and Carlin, via Emigrant Pass , 6,114 feet (1,864 m). Just east of Carlin, I-80 passes through

168-727: The Carlin Tunnel to bypass curves of the river in the Carlin Canyon (between the Carlin Tunnel and Elko). After Wells, I-80 departs the Humboldt River, first transcontinental railroad, and California Trail. From this point east, the freeway follows the routes of the Hastings Cutoff , Feather River Route, former US 40, and SR 1. The freeway cuts across two mountain ranges before arriving at

196-977: The Great Salt Lake Desert . The first is the Pequop Mountains via Pequop Summit , elevation 6,967 feet (2,124 m)—the highest point on I-80 in Nevada—and the second is the Toano Range via Silver Zone Pass at 5,955 feet (1,815 m). After crossing these mountains, the freeway arrives at West Wendover where the freeway enters both Utah and the Great Salt Lake Desert at the Bonneville Salt Flats . Portions of I-80 run concurrently with three US Routes in Nevada: The general route of I-80

224-478: The Mojave . Due to the high elevation and aridity, temperatures drop sharply after sunset. Summer nights are comfortably cool. Winter highs are generally above freezing, and winter nights are bitterly cold, with temperatures often dropping below freezing. Cedar Mountains (Tooele County, Utah) The Cedar Mountains of Tooele County , Utah , USA , are a 45-mile (72 km) long mountain range located in

252-641: The Northern Nevada Veterans Cemetery to the north. Traffic volumes drop to 26,600 vehicles per day by Fernley and continue dropping to 8,400 by the time the freeway reaches the center of the state. The freeway exits the Truckee River corridor near Wadsworth . Past Wadsworth, the freeway cuts across the Lahontan Valley . The Lahontan Valley is a barren desert, sometimes called the Forty Mile Desert , from

280-541: The former president of the same name and the Purple Heart Trail after such military decoration . There are plans to widen I-80 to three lanes in both directions from Vista Boulevard and Greg Street to SR 439 south (USA Parkway). This is due to the increase in traffic travelling between Reno and Sparks to the Industrial Area built up on USA Parkway, thousands of people traverse I-80 through

308-416: The "ghost tracks", as the archaeologists called them, the footprints absorb moisture and are only visible when it rains and disappear when dry. The Great Salt Lake Desert experiences a desert climate with hot summers and cold winters. The desert is an excellent example of a cold desert climate . The desert's elevation, 4,250 feet above sea level, makes temperatures cooler than lower elevation deserts, such as

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336-821: The California Trail. West of Lovelock, in the middle of the Humboldt Sink , the California Trail again splits into two branches. These branches, the Carson River route and the Truckee River route, are named for the waterways that guide each branch up the Sierra Nevada . I-80 follows the Truckee route, the Carson route is approximated by US 95 , US 50 , US 395 , and SR 88 / California State Route 88 . The route of modern I-80

364-469: The Humboldt and Truckee rivers. A marker stands at a rest area on the eastern edge of the valley, near the junction of I-80 and US 95 , that honors travelers who suffered crossing the valley, thousands of whom abandoned possessions, animals, and even loved ones in the desert. Per the marker, this portion was the most dreaded portion of the California Trail. Between eastern Fernley and Winnemucca,

392-515: The county's east, bordering east sections of the Great Salt Lake Desert on the range's west and southwest flanks. The range contains the Cedar Mountain Wilderness , and lies between Skull Valley on its east and southeast, and the Great Salt Lake Desert on its west and southwest. The Cedar Mountains contain a 30-mi (48 km) due-north trending north section, and a 15-mi (24 km) southeast trending section. The range

420-468: The desert and in the 1840s, westward emigrants used the Hastings Cutoff through 130 miles (210 km) of Great Salt Lake desert to reduce the distance to California . The 1846 Donner Party 's difficulties in making the crossing contributed to their becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada . Howard Stansbury explored the desert in 1849. In 1956, I-80 replaced the Wendover Cut-off across

448-651: The desert receives less than 8 inches (200 mm) of annual precipitation. The salt crust covering the desert reforms yearly when the rain evaporates. The military's Utah Test and Training Range is in the northern portion of the desert. The lowest part of Juab County is located just south of the Dugway Proving Grounds, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of the northwest corner of the Fish Springs Range. During Jedediah Smith's 1826-27 expedition , Robert Evans nearly died while crossing

476-648: The desert, including a straight east-west section for ~50 miles (80 km) between the Cedar Mountains to the east and Wendover on the Utah/Nevada border. Following a railway completed across the desert's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1910, the flats were first used as a speedway in 1914. The world records for highest land speeds are regularly broken here. In July 2022, archaeologists discovered about 88 footprints had been left behind by humans at least 12,000 years ago using ground-penetrating radar (GPR). In

504-553: The east, and Low and Aragonite on the west. For the north 30-mi section: from Aragonite, Hastings Pass Road accesses Hastings Pass; from Hastings Pass Road, Cedar Mountain Road follows the west perimeter foothills south to West Cedar Flats Road. South Valley Road from Skull Valley intersects after going over Rydalch Pass, Rydalch Canyon. The south 15-mi section can be accessed from Dugway and south Skull Valley. Utah State Route 196 goes north from Dugway; S. Cedar Mountain Road follows

532-540: The era of the California Trail . The name comes from the California Gold Rush where the emigrants who came into the Lahontan Valley via the Humboldt River . The travelers would have then to endure 40 miles (64 km) without usable water while crossing the valley, regardless of which of the two routes across the valley the travelers followed. I-80 closely approximates the path of the emigrants between

560-739: The northeast foothills of the range, (Post Hollow Road exits west from Utah 196). This article about a location in Utah is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Interstate 80 in Nevada Interstate ;80 ( I-80 ) traverses the northern portion of the US state of Nevada . The freeway serves the Reno metropolitan area and passes through the towns of Fernley , Lovelock , Winnemucca , Battle Mountain , Carlin , Elko , Wells , and West Wendover on its way through

588-496: The speed limit was raised from 75 to 80 mph (121 to 129 km/h) in 2017. For the next 246 miles (396 km), I-80 follows the Humboldt River. Along the way, the freeway passes through the towns of Lovelock, Winnemucca , Battle Mountain , Carlin , Elko , and Wells . At Winnemucca, I-80 is joined by the Feather River Route ; I-80 runs parallel to this railroad until the Utah state line. The freeway

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616-558: The state. I-80 follows the historical routes of the California Trail , first transcontinental railroad and Feather River Route throughout portions of Nevada. Throughout the entire state, I-80 follows the historical routes of the Victory Highway , State Route 1 ( SR 1 ), and US Route 40 ( US 40 ). The freeway corridor follows the paths of the Truckee and Humboldt rivers. These rivers have been used as

644-444: The west flank, at the east Great Salt Lake Desert saltflats . The highpoint of the range is Tabbys Peak at 6,921 feet (2,110 m), adjacent north of Rydalch Pass. White Rock at 5,693 feet (1,735 m) is midpoint along the southeast mountain range section. The midpoint of the entire range is near Quiney Spring on the range's west flank. The north region of the Cedar Mountains can be accessed from Interstate 80 from Delle on

672-511: Was also previously used for the construction of two transcontinental railroads. The first transcontinental railroad , completed in 1869, closely follows the main line of the California Trail and I-80 west of Wells. The Feather River Route was constructed in 1909 and generally follows the Hastings Cutoff through Eastern Nevada. It also runs parallel to I-80 in Nevada east of Winnemucca. The first paved road across this portion of Nevada

700-521: Was first used by California-bound travelers and was called the California Trail . From the Utah state line west to the Humboldt River, I-80 follows a modified routing of a lesser used branch of the trail called Hastings Cutoff . The cutoff rejoins the main route of the trail in the Humboldt River canyon. Through this portion of Nevada, the main route of the California Trail ran north of modern SR 233 . From Elko west to Lovelock , I-80 faithfully follows

728-510: Was mostly redundant with I-15 . Nevada officials agreed and further suggested that both US 91 and US 40 be truncated. Nevada officials recommended the changes occur in 1975, when the last Nevada piece of I-15 was expected to be completed. The 1976 edition of the official highway map for Nevada was the first not showing the US ;40 designation. Even though the US Route designation

756-480: Was removed, the freeway was not yet completed. The last piece of I-80 in Nevada to be finished was the Lovelock bypass which started construction in 1981. The 1982 Official Nevada Highway Map was the first to note I-80 as a contiguous freeway across the state. All of the business loops for I-80 in Nevada use the historical route of US 40. I-80 is also known in Nevada as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway after

784-606: Was the Victory Highway , designated in Nevada as SR 1. With the formation of the US Numbered Highway System , this route was numbered US 40 . From the formation of the Interstate Highway System , the highway was gradually upgraded to Interstate Highway standards and signed as I-80. In 1974, officials in Utah initiated meetings with officials in Nevada and California to truncate the route of US 91 . By that time, US 91

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