U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from

Deadwood, South Dakota Deadwood ( Lakota: ''Owáyasuta''; "To approve or confirm things") is a city that serves as county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city ha ...

Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is an American national park located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, and was named afte ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Route description

, - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 , - , NE , 181 , 290 , - , SD , 122 , 196 , - , Total , 1206 , 1941

Texas

US 385 is designated as a part of the La Entrada al Pacifico trade corridor from

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pla ...

in Fort Stockton to

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

. The section from Fort Stockton to McCamey runs concurrently with

US 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues ...

. From McCamey, the route proceeds to Crane in Crane County. From Crane to Odessa, US 385 intersects with U.S. Highway 62 in

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and ...

and continues northward to

Brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

, where US 385 continues northward towards Levelland and crosses by Texas State Highway 86 in Dimmitt, as well as U.S. Highway 84 in Littlefield. From Littlefield, US 385 continues northward until it crosses

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to eas ...

and then goes in a half circle to Hartley, where US 385 joins U.S. Highway 87. US 385 and US 87 follow a northwest track until the two meet U.S. Highway 54 then split, with US 385 continuing northward until it exits Texas at the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

border. On rural US 385, the speed limit is 75 mph in all counties going south of Gaines County starting between Seminole and Andrews down to US 90 in Marathon.

Oklahoma

, US-385 runs through

Cimarron County Cimarron County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Boise City. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,296, making it the least-populous county in Oklahoma; and indeed, throughout most of its histo ...

at the end of the

Oklahoma panhandle The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Coun ...

. Fourteen miles north of the border, it joins with US-56, US-64, and US-412. The three highways run northeast into the county seat, Boise City. In the middle of town, the highways come to a

traffic circle A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford E ...

surrounding the Cimarron County Courthouse. The traffic circle serves six highways (with most passing through): U.S. Routes 56, 64, 385 and 412, and State Highways 3 and

325 __NOTOC__ Year 325 ( CCCXXV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Proculus and Paulinus (or, less frequently, year 1078 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

. After leaving the circle, US-385 heads northward, overlapping US-287 and SH-3, the state's longest state highway. SH-3 ends at the state line while US-287/385 continue north into Colorado. The section of US-385 that overlaps SH-3 is also signed as Governor

George Nigh George Patterson Nigh (born June 9, 1927) is an American politician and civic leader from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Nigh served as the 17th and the 22nd governor of Oklahoma and as the eighth and tenth lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. He was t ...

's Northwest Passage, after the governor of Oklahoma responsible for improvements to the corridor.

Colorado

U.S. 385 passes north–south through the easternmost counties of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. It enters the state south of Campo on an overlap with U.S. Route 287. The overlap continues north until Lamar. At Lamar, the route turns east on an overlap with

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

and this overlap ends in

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the ...

. The highway turns north at Granada and meets

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...

at Burlington and Interstate 76 at Julesburg. The highway leaves Colorado northwest of Julesburg.

Nebraska

U.S. 385 passes north–south through the

Nebraska Panhandle The Nebraska Panhandle is an area in the western part of the state of Nebraska and one of several U.S. state panhandles, or elongated geographical regions that extend from their main political entity. The Nebraska panhandle is two-thirds as br ...

. It enters

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

south of Chappell and overlaps

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

between Chappell and Sidney. At Sidney, it turns north, meeting

U.S. Route 26 U.S. Route 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. highway system was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho an ...

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonn ...

. It passes through

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

before intersecting

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. ...

at Chadron. It exits the state northwest of Chadron. Throughout its entire length in Nebraska, US 385 is known as the Gold Rush Byway, one of nine scenic byways in the state.

South Dakota

U.S. 385 enters

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large portio ...

south of Oelrichs. It is overlapped with U.S. Route 18 between Oelrichs and

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by ci ...

. U.S. 385 turns north and enters

Wind Cave National Park Wind Cave National Park is an American national park located north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established on January 3, 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the sixth national park in the U.S. and the first cave ...

before turning west to go through Pringle. At

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, ...

, it begins an overlap with

U.S. Route 16 U.S. Route 16 (US 16) is an east–west United States Highway between Rapid City, South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The highway's eastern terminus is at a junction with Interstate 90/ U.S. Route 14 (I-90/US 14), conc ...

, which ends near Hill City. U.S. 385 gradually turns in a northwesterly direction and ends at an intersection with U.S. Route 85 at Deadwood. Legally, the South Dakota section of U.S. 385, with the exception of concurrencies with U.S. 16 and U.S. 18 and a gap at

, is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-235.

History

Today's US 385 is the second route to bear the number. The original route eventually became part of US 87. This US 385 designation was decommissioned around 1935. The current US 385 first appeared in 1959. Originally, the route continued along US 287 north of Lamar, Colorado, splitting in

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...

to follow US 40 east to meet up with the present-day alignment in Cheyenne Wells. In

, in 2009, the South Dakota Department of Transportation designated US 16/US 385 between Custer and Hill City, which passes by the Crazy Horse Memorial, now being carved in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk ...

. This segment of US 385 is also a part of the George Hearst Memorial Highway.

Major intersections

;Texas : The north entrance to

south-southeast of

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road running, road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also w ...

: in Marathon. The highways travel concurrently to east of Marathon. : in Fort Stockton. The highways travel concurrently through Fort Stockton. : in Fort Stockton. I-10/US 385 travels concurrently to east-southeast of Fort Stockton. US 67/US 385 travels concurrently to McCamey. : in

: in

. US 62/US 385 travels concurrently to

. : in Brownfield. The highways travel concurrently through Brownfield. : in Littlefield : in Springlake : in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a populatio ...

: in

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, a ...

: in Hartley. The highways travel concurrently to

Dalhart Dalhart is a city in Dallam and Hartley counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and the county seat of Dallam County. The population was 7,930 at the 2010 census. History Founded in 1901, Dalhart is named for its location on the border of Dalla ...

. : in Dalhart ;Oklahoma : southwest of Boise City. The highways travel concurrently to Boise City. : north of Boise City. The highways travel concurrently to

Lamar, Colorado Lamar is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Prowers County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,804 at the 2010 United States Census. The city was named after Confederate ...

. ;Colorado : south of Springfield : in Lamar. US 50/US 385 travels concurrently to

. : in Granada : in Cheyenne Wells. The highways travel concurrently to east of Cheyenne Wells. : in Burlington : in Burlington. The highways travel concurrently through Burlington. : east of Idalia. The highways travel concurrently to northeast of Idalia. : in Wray : in

Holyoke Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfiel ...

: in Julesburg : in Julesburg. The highways travel concurrently to west-southwest of Julesburg. ;Nebraska : in Chappell. The highways travel concurrently to Sidney. : in

. The highways travel concurrently to Northport. : in Chadron. The highways travel concurrently to west of Chadron. ;South Dakota : in Oelrichs. The highways travel concurrently to

. : in

. The highways travel concurrently to east-northeast of Hill City. : in Deadwood

References

External links

Endpoints of U.S. Highway 385
{{DEFAULTSORT:85-3 United States Numbered Highway System U.S. Highways in South Dakota U.S. Highways in Oklahoma 3