Area 51 and the Extraterrestrial Highway: What You Can Actually See

Groom Lake is a dry lake bed inside the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), approximately 83 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The classified military installation on its shores — formally designated Air Force Flight Test Center Detachment 3, more popularly known as Area 51 — is real, operational, and surrounded by security infrastructure that will make itself known to you before you get anywhere near the base perimeter.

The base is where the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Stealth Fighter, and numerous other classified aircraft were developed and flight-tested from the 1950s onward. The CIA officially acknowledged its existence in 2013. What’s currently happening there is classified. The surrounding area generates substantial tourism traffic from people who want to see, or be proximate to, something they’re not permitted to see.

What You Can Do

The Extraterrestrial Highway (Nevada State Route 375) runs northwest from Las Vegas through Amargosa Valley and up through Rachel, the closest civilian settlement to the base (population approximately 50). The 98-mile highway was officially renamed in 1996 acknowledging the tourism angle. It’s a good desert drive: long straights, emptiness, occasional cattle grid, the Tikaboo Valley basin with Groom Lake visible in the far distance on clear days.

The Black Mailbox (now replaced with a white one after the original became a tourist attraction) sits on a ranch on Route 375 about 8 miles south of Rachel. This is the landmark spot where people gather on clear nights to watch for unusual aerial activity. There are occasional sightings of things moving in ways that require second looks; there are also a lot of conventional flight test aircraft operating out of Edwards and the NTTR that look unusual if you’re not used to military aviation.

The boundary: Orange signs on dirt roads off Route 375 mark where federal land begins. Security — camouflaged vehicles, motion sensors, armed patrols — is real and responsive. People who cross the boundary get detained, then arrested, then face federal charges. In September 2019, a social-media-organized “Storm Area 51” event was planned and then redirected into two music festivals in Rachel and Hiko when the organiser reconsidered the logistics of encouraging people to charge a military facility. Roughly 1,500 people showed up to the festivals. Don’t cross the boundary.

Rachel

The town of Rachel is the Extraterrestrial Highway’s main human presence. The Little A’Le’Inn is the diner, bar, and motel — established in 1988, merchandise-heavy, serves decent basic food (burgers, the “Alien Burger”), and provides context about the base history through photographs and memorabilia on the walls. Motel rooms are basic and inexpensive (around $55-75/night). The proprietors have been watching the base area for decades and are genuinely informative if you ask the right questions.

Getting There From Las Vegas

Rachel is about 2.5 hours from Las Vegas by car. Take US-95 north to Nevada 373, then Route 375 north. The drive through Amargosa Valley toward Beatty is itself worthwhile — Death Valley Junction, the Furnace Creek area, and the ghost towns in this corridor make a full day’s itinerary possible.

The nearest town with standard amenities is Tonopah (90 minutes north of Rachel). Tonopah has a Safeway, several motels, and the Clown Motel (next to a 19th-century miners’ cemetery, operated as a straightforward motel despite its reputation). The Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, a 1907 mining-era building recently renovated, is the most atmospheric place to stay in the region.

Fill up with fuel before leaving the Las Vegas metro area or at Amargosa Valley. Cell coverage is minimal on Route 375.