U.S. Route 385 in Nebraska

U.S. Highway 385
Gold Rush Byway (US 385) highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NDOR
Length:	180.36 mi (290.26 km)
Existed:	1958 – present
Tourist routes:	Gold Rush Byway
Major junctions
South end:	US 385 west of Julesburg, CO
	I-80 / US 30 in Chappell US 30 / L-17J in Sidney N-92 near Broadwater US 26 / N-88 / N-92 in Bridgeport N-2 in Alliance US 20 in Chadron
North end:	US 385 near Chadron
Location
Counties:	Deuel, Cheyenne, Morrill, Box Butte, Dawes
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Replaced Nebraska State Highway System Interstate US State Link Spur Recreation ← N-370 I-480 →

U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that travels from Big Bend National Park in Texas to US 85 in Deadwood, South Dakota. Within the state of Nebraska, the highway is known as the Gold Rush Byway, one of nine scenic byways across the state. The highway follows along the old Sidney-Black Hills trail which played a crucial role during the Black Hills Gold Rush in the late 1870s. It served as the primary route to transport gold and mining gear between Sidney, Nebraska and the Black Hills to the north. Today, the highway enters Nebraska in the southeastern portion of the Nebraska Panhandle on the state line with Colorado northeast of Julesburg and continues in a northerly direction to the South Dakota state line north of Chadron.

US 385 was an original entry in the initial development of the US Highway System in 1926. It originally ran from Comfort, Texas to Raton, New Mexico and did not come near Nebraska. In 1935, most of the routing of US 385 was resigned as US 87. The current incarnation of US 385 was commissioned in 1959 bringing the highway into Nebraska along the new alignment that stretched from Big Bend all the way to Deadwood, South Dakota in the Black Hills.

US 385 enters Nebraska on the Colorado state line northwest of Julesburg, Colorado. Traveling to the northwest through agricultural fields and alongside Lodgepole Creek, the highway passes beneath I-80 just before it enters the small city of Chappell. The highway has a connection to I-80 south of town via Link 25A. Here, the highway meets up with US 30, the Lincoln Highway, running concurrently with it for about 25 miles to the northwest passing through Lodgepole before turning west and passing through the small communities of Sunol and Colton. At the highway approaches Sidney, US 385 breaks off from US 30 and turns north along the east side of Sidney.