U.S. Route 50 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids U.S. Route 50
The Interstate Highway System with US 50 in red
Route information
Length	3,017.197 mi (4,855.708 km)
Existed	1926–present
Major junctions
West end	I-80 in West Sacramento, CA
	I-5 in Sacramento, CA I-15 near Fillmore, UT I-25 / US 85 / US 87 in Pueblo, CO I-35 from Emporia to Lenexa, KS I-55 in Concord, MO I-65 in Seymour, IN I-71 / I-75 in Cincinnati, OH I-77 in Parkersburg, WV I-81 / US 11 / US 17 / US 522 in Winchester, VA I-95 near Washington, DC
East end	MD 528 in Ocean City, MD
Location
States:	California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced

U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system. It goes over 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic Ocean. The Interstates were built later. They are mostly separate from this route. The route goes through mostly rural desert and mountains in the western United States. The part that goes through Nevada is known as "The Loneliest Road in America". In the Midwest, US 50 goes through mostly rural areas of farms, although it does go through a few big cities including Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; and Cincinnati, Ohio. The route goes into the eastern United States, where it goes through the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia; then it goes through Washington, D.C. From there, US 50 goes through Maryland as a high-speed road to Ocean City. Signs at each end give the length as 3,073 miles (4,946 km), but the actual distance is slightly shorter. This is due to small changes in the route since it was measured. US 50 goes through a total of 12 states; California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia.

• Kansas Highway Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT

Images for kids

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  Mileage sign at the western terminus of US 50

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  Saddle Mountain at sunrise, as viewed from Skyline atop the Allegheny Front along US 50 in West Virginia

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  Chesapeake Bay Bridge, carrying US 50/US 301 over the bay

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  US 50 in the Nevada desert

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  The Jefferson Barracks Bridge over the Mississippi River

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  US 50 shield on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C.

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  A "Loneliest Road in America" sign outside Austin, NV