Middlegate, Nevada - Shoe Tree

Middlegate, Nevada - Shoe Tree

A round-up on Shoe Trees, where hundreds of discarded sneakers and other footwear are tossed. The shoe tree blooms with polymer beauty. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Middlegate, Nevada - Shoe Tree

I actually have a pair of shoes in this tree. I happen to run into this tree working in Ely, NV. It's an awesome site to see. It's hard to believe that this tree could stand the weight of all these shoes. [Kelby, 03/12/2009]

Middlegate, Nevada - Shoe Tree

I drive past the shoe tree near Middlegate, Nevada all the time going between Reno and Ely. [It's an important shoe tree,] based on size of tree, sheer number of shoes, and location in the middle of nowhere on America's Loneliest Highway. [Jennifer Sigler, 04/09/2007]

Middlegate, Nevada - Shoe Tree

I've become obsessed with shoe trees in my travels as a truck driver... I know you already have photos of the shoe tree on Highway 50 in Nevada, but I managed to capture some really nice ones with winter frost on them.

It sits on the side of U.S. 50 between the towns of Austin and Fallon, NV. The sheer number of shoes crammed into the branches is mind boggling. [Soopageek, 02/14/2005]

[RA: We've added a special Winter shoe tree page with more pix.]

Middlegate, Nevada - Shoe Tree

The shoe tree is on Hwy. 50 near Middle Gate, Nevada (which appears to be mostly a bar and a few houses). The story behind the tree goes as such: A young couple camped there on their wedding night and got into a tiff. The woman said she was gonna walk away and the man said, "If you do, you'll have to walk barefoot," and threw her shoes in the tree. Then, the man got in the car and drove to Middle Gate to have a drink at the bar. The bartender talked him into going back to his wife, which he did. A year later, they brought their first child's shoes to the tree and tossed them into the branches. Since then, people have been adding and removing shoes from the tree so that when you drive over a hill on that ver desolate road, all that you can see is this cottonwood tree with shoes hanging from every branch. The date I visited was approximately July 10, 1998. [Shelle Barton Robertson, 09/12/1999]

[RA: Find out about more Shoe Trees. Update - May 2004 - The New York Times devoted a half page to the story: "On Loneliest Road, A Unique Tree Thrives." The piece noted that some people hang new pairs of shoes in this craggy cottonwood for the less fortunate to take.]