Author and photographer Stephen H. Provost’s Sierra Highway: U.S. 395 and El Camino Sierra in California and Nevada is the fourth volume in his growing Highways of the West series, historical travel guides to iconic highways in the West. Previous volumes have dealt with America’s Loneliest Road, the Victory Highway in Nevada and the Lincoln Highway in California.
To travel U.S. Highway 395 in California and Nevada means to marvel at snow-capped peaks soaring toward heaven; to revel in the smell of pine that permeates the air; to gaze out on desert sunsets of red and orange and yellow; to fish in clear, tranquil lakes; to bathe in healing hot springs; and to brave the rapids of cold, rushing rivers. There’s history to discover along this road. Cities have grown up around it, and boomtowns have become ghost towns beside it.
Sierra Highway describes the majesty and history of places like the Three Flags Highway and El Camino Sierra from the timber country near the Oregon border south through Reno, Carson City, and Nevada’s oldest town. Climb toward the crest of the range and explore haunting Mono Lake and breathtaking Mammoth Lakes, then descend to the edge of the Mojave Desert and witness a wholly different kind of beauty. Revisit old 395 where it once continued down all the way to San Diego, the only highway to share part of its length with both the Lincoln Highway and Route 66.
Travelers by the millions have followed this road, and their stories echo through more 360 pages in this historical travelogue. Illustrated by more than 550 images, Sierra Highway is available in paperback, Kindle ebook, and color hardcover editions.
A former editor, reporter and columnist with more than 30 years of experience at daily newspapers, Provost is the author of more than 50 books including works of historical nonfiction, travel and fiction.
Excerpt published with permission of the author and Dragon Crown Books.