State Route 88 (SR 88) is a north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the

Carson Valley Douglas County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of th2020 Census the population was 49,488. Its county seat is Minden. Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos, NV Micropolitan Statistical Area, w ...

in western Douglas County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States. It runs from the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

state line along ''Woodfords Road'' to

U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road ...

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

. Prior to 1957, the highway existed as State Route 37. The highway continues into California as California State Route 88; both highways are closely related. Although Route 88 is a secondary route today, the highway is a historical route from when

Carson Pass Carson Pass is a mountain pass on the crest of the central Sierra Nevada, in the Eldorado National Forest and Alpine County, eastern California. The pass is traversed by California State Route 88. It lies on the Great Basin Divide, with the West ...

was a major crossing of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

Route description

The route enters Nevada from California near

Woodfords, California Woodfords (formerly, Brannan Springs, Carey's Mill, Cary's Mills, Carys Mill, Carys Mills, Woodford's, Carey's Mills, and Woodford) is an unincorporated community in Alpine County, California, near Markleeville. For census purposes, it is incl ...

. Just after exiting the

via the

Carson River The Carson River is a northwestern List of Nevada rivers, Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is long although the addition of the East Fork makes the total length , traversing five co ...

. The road loosely follows the river and the Carson Valley on the western edge of communities of Centerville, Gardnerville Ranchos, and

where the highway ends at a Y junction with

. Despite the fact that California State Route 88 is an east-west highway, Nevada State Route 88 follows a nearly straight north-south path. There are no curves along its entire length other than at the north end to intersect with US 395.

History

The highway shares much of its history with its California counterpart. Both formed part of a trail that went under such names as "Emigrant Trail", "Kit Carson Emigrant Trail" which has existed since the 1840s. The Carson Pass route was one of two primary divisions of the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

. The trail's use diminished with the establishment of the

First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...

which was completed in 1869 and follows a path closer to modern

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

across the Sierra Nevada. Newer names for the road have included "Carson Pass Road" after

in California. Woodsford Road first appears on state maps in 1934 as a gravel and graded highway. By 1935, State Route 37 had been established along the roadway. The route remained unchanged until being renumbered as State Route 88 by 1957.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Nevada State Route 88 088 Transportation in Douglas County, Nevada

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links