The US highway 50, originally created in 1926, is a major east-west route of the US numbered highway system, which traverses 3,019 miles (4,859 kilometers) and crosses twelve US states and the District of Columbia. The eastern terminus end is located in at Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean. The western terminus end is at the Interstate 80 (IH 80) in West Sacramento, California. Before 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways on the west side of the Sacramento area, it had previously extended, by way of Stockton, the Altamont Pass, and the Bay Bridge, to San Francisco, near the Pacific Ocean.

The Interstates were constructed later and are mostly separate from this route. It generally serves a corridor south of I-70 and I-80 and north of I-64 and I-40.

U.S. Route 50 (US 50) is a major east–west transcontinental highway, connecting Ocean City, Maryland and West Sacramento, California. Stretching 3,000 miles (4,800 km), the route runs through mostly rural areas in the Western part of US. It includes the section through Nevada known as The Loneliest Road in America.

The name originates from large desolate areas traversed by the route, with few or no signs of civilization. The highway crosses several large desert valleys separated by numerous mountain ranges towering over the valley floors, in what is known as the Basin and Range province of the Great Basin.

The Nevada portion of US 50 crosses the center of the state and was named The Loneliest Road in America by Life magazine in July 1986. The name was intended pejoratively, but Nevada officials seized it as a marketing slogan.

Existed: 1926 to present