Nevada State Route 447

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State Route 447
Maintained by Nevada DOT
Length: 74.645 mi[1] (120.129 km)
South end: SR 427 in Wadsworth
Major
junctions:
SR 446 near Nixon
North end: Gerlach
Counties: Washoe County
Pershing County
Major cities: Wadsworth
Nixon
Empire
Gerlach
Nevada highways
< SR 446 SR 487 >

State Route 447 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Nevada. The highway is almost entirely within Washoe County but does for a brief time enter Pershing County, Nevada[2]

The highway begins at a junction with SR 427, a historical routing of US 40, in Wadsworth, Nevada. The highway ends just north of Gerlach, Nevada. Though passing through extremely rural and desolate areas of Nevada the highway has recently gained fame as the primary route to access the Black Rock Desert, the site of the annual Burning Man festival. A 4.5 miles (7.2 km) portion of this highway, along with portions of SR 445 and SR 446, has been designated the Pyramid Lake Scenic Byway.[3]

Contents

[edit] Route description

The route begins at a junction with Old US 40 in Wadsworth. The highway proceeds north following the path of the Truckee River and passes along the east side of the river's terminus Pyramid Lake. The highway continues north following the western edge of Winnemucca Lake, a dry lake that once also was the terminus of the Truckee river. During this portion the highway straddles the Washoe/Pershing County line.[2]

The highway arrives at the Black Rock Desert just before arriving at Empire a city founded on processing gypsum extracted from the desert. The highway ends .375 miles (0.60 km) north of crossing the Union Pacific Railroads Feather River Route in Gerlach.

Just past where the official designation ends is the turn off for former State Route 34 which is used to access the large playa of the Black Rock Desert and the site of Burning Man Festival.

Though the highway officially ends here, the roadbed continues as a Washoe county road [4] to the California State Line near the Lassen/Modoc county line. This road is frequently called the Gerlach-Cederville Road. Some maps errantly list this road as part of route 447.[2] Once arriving at Cedarville, the highway continues as California State Route 299.

[edit] History

The highway formed a part of State Route 34 until the renumbering of Nevada State Routes in the 1970s. Other parts of the the Gerlach-Cederville road were numbered SR 8A and SR 81[1]

[edit] Major intersections

County Location[2] Mile Junction Notes
Washoe County Wadsworth 0 SR 427Fernley
Nixon SR 446Sutcliffe, Sparks Pyramid Lake State Park
Gerlach Former SR 34

[edit] References