Nevada State Route 705

Trails connecting Lake Tahoe with the Comstock Lode mining region near Carson City had been established in the mid-1800s, with the first wagon road route through Kings Canyon to the north having been constructed by November 1863. This route was eventually selected to become part of the Lincoln Highway and, later, a branch of SR 3.[3]

The advent of the automobile greatly changed this region of Nevada. From 1927 to 1928, aided by both state and forest highway funding, a graded two-lane road was constructed along the corridor of Clear Creek to connect Carson City to Spooner Summit, just east of Glenbrook on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe.[4][5] The Clear Creek Road replaced the former Kings Canyon route as the major road to Lake Tahoe in 1928,[3] and was subsequently selected as a later realignment of the Lincoln Highway.[6] Clear Creek Road later became part of US 50, but was bypassed in the 1950s by the current four-lane alignment located a short distance to the north.[4][5]

Clear Creek Road remained largely unchanged since it was established. The Nevada Department of Transportation initially designated SR 705, from the current western terminus east to a Bureau of Indian Affairs water diversion box in Carson City, by January 11, 2000.[7] By the beginning of 2006, the short portion with Carson City had been removed from state maintenance, resulting in the current highway segment in Douglas County.[8]