Coming into Fallon, especially after crossing the Great Basin deserts of Utah and Nevada that stretch to the east, can be a shock to the system. First, relative to Nevada’s other US-50 towns, Fallon is big: upwards of 7,000 residents, with all the attendant shopping malls, traffic lights, and fast-food franchises. Second, but perhaps more striking, Fallon is green: alfalfa, onions, garlic, and cantaloupe as far as the eye can see. Otherwise, Fallon offers ATMs, gas stations, and motels lining US-50, as well as the usual Pizza Huts and Subways, and a handy 24-hour Safeway.
Besides agriculture, Fallon’s main employer is the U.S. Navy, whose air base and target range is an important training center for carrier-based fighters and bombers—the “Top Guns” of Tom Cruise fame.
While it’s not an especially attractive place, Fallon does have what they accurately call “The Best Little Museum on the Loneliest Road in America,” the eclectic and engaging Churchill County Museum (daily; free; 775/423-3677) at 1050 S. Maine Street, less than a mile south of US-50. Filling an old Safeway supermarket, the exhibits contain native Paiute basketry, clothing and hunting gear, and the usual array of pioneer quilts and clothing, plus a player piano, and the gift shop sells a wide range of books and historical postcards.
