Nevada State Route 488

State Route 488 marker

State Route 488
Lehman Caves Road
Route information
Maintained by NDOT
Length: 4.786 mi[1] (7.702 km)
Existed: 1976 – present
History: Established as SR 74 by 1937
Major junctions
West end: Great Basin National Park
East end: SR 487 in Baker
Highway system
  • Highways in Nevada
← SR 487SR 489 →

State Route 488 (SR 488) is an east–west state highway in White Pine County, Nevada. The route covers Lehman Caves Road connecting the town of Baker to Great Basin National Park. The route existed as State Route 74 prior to 1976. SR 488 has been designated a Nevada Scenic Byway.

Route description

First reassurance sign along westbound SR 488 in Baker

SR 488 begins at a cattle guard on Lehman Caves Road, 0.707 miles (1.138 km) east of the Lehman Caves Visitor Center and main roadway entrance to the developed areas of Great Basin National Park. From there, the route travels easterly through desert terrain, roughly paralleling the course of Lehman Creek as it travels down towards the town of Baker. The highway ends at an intersection with Baker Road (SR 487) in Baker.[2]

History

An unimproved road connecting Lehman Caves to the state highway system first appears on official Nevada state highway maps as far back as 1937, although this road traveled more northeasterly than the current alignment of Lehman Caves Road and connected to Baker Road north of the town.[3] This early iteration of State Route 74 was shown on some maps.[4] However, the state's tourist maps did not show the existence of State Route 74 until 1942—by then, the highway route had been changed to its present-day alignment, meeting then-SR 73 at Baker.[5] The new route was upgraded to a gravel road by 1948,[6] and was fully paved by 1949.[7]

SR 74 was eliminated from the state highway system as part of a mass renumbering of Nevada's state routes. State Route 488 was designated to replace SR 74 on July 1, 1976.[8] This change in highway numbers was first seen on the 1978–79 edition of the state highway map.[9] Since its re-designation as SR 488, Lehman Caves Road has not undergone any significant changes.

The Nevada Department of Transportation designated State Route 488 as a Nevada Scenic Byway on March 27, 2000, simultaneously with SR 487 and a nearby portion of U.S. Routes 6 and 50.[10]

Major intersections

The entire route is in White Pine County.

LocationmikmDestinationsNotes
 0.000.00Lehman Caves Road – Great Basin National ParkContinuation beyond western terminus
Baker SR 487 (Baker Road)eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ↑ Nevada Department of Transportation (January 2014). "State Maintained Highways of Nevada: Descriptions and Maps" (PDF). Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  2. ↑ Google (February 17, 2014). "Overview of SR 488" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ Official Road Map of the State of Nevada (PDF) (Map). Nevada State Highway Department. 1937. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  4. ↑ General Highway Map, White Pine County, Nevada (PDF) (Map). Nevada Department of Highways. 1937. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  5. ↑ Official Road Map of the State of Nevada (PDF) (Map). Nevada State Highway Department. 1942. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  6. ↑ Official Highway Map of Nevada (PDF) (Map). Nevada State Highway Department. 1948. § E7. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  7. ↑ Official Highway Map of Nevada (PDF) (Map). Nevada State Highway Department. 1949. § E7. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ Nevada State Maintained Highways: Descriptions, Index and Maps. Nevada Department of Transportation. January 2001. p. 119.
  9. ↑ Official Highway Map of Nevada (PDF) (Map) (1978-79 ed.). Nevada State Highway Department. 1978. § C6. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Nevada Scenic Byways". Nevada Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 16, 2014.

External links