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

The CIA officially acknowledged Area 51’s existence in 2013, confirming what people had suspected for decades: that the classified installation beside Groom Lake, 83 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is where the U-2 spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-117 Stealth Fighter, and various other classified aircraft were developed and flight-tested from the 1950s onward. What’s happening there currently is still classified. The security infrastructure surrounding the base will make itself known to you before you get anywhere near the perimeter, and it is real.

This is one of the most visited non-accessible attractions in the United States: tens of thousands of people per year drive to a place they cannot enter to stand at a boundary they cannot cross. The honest appeal is the drive itself, the desert landscape, and the particular pleasure of being near something genuinely secret.

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, with a population of around 50 to 100 depending on the season. The 98-mile highway was officially renamed ET Highway in 1996. It’s a good desert drive: long straights, emptiness, the Tikaboo Valley basin with Groom Lake visible as a white smudge on clear days.

The Black Mailbox, originally a regular ranch mailbox on Route 375 that became a pilgrimage spot for UFO watchers in the 1990s, was replaced with a white one after the original was stolen repeatedly. It still marks the spot about 8 miles south of Rachel where people gather at night to watch for unusual aerial activity. There are genuine sightings of aircraft behaving in ways that require second looks; there are also many conventional flight test aircraft operating from Edwards and the NTTR that look unusual if you’re unfamiliar with military aviation.

The boundary: Orange and white signs on dirt roads off Route 375 mark where federal land begins. Security is genuine: camouflaged vehicles, motion sensors, armed patrols. People who cross get detained, then arrested, then face federal charges and fines starting at $600. The “Storm Area 51” event in September 2019, organized on social media to encourage people to rush the base, was reconsidered by its own organiser and redirected into two music festivals in Rachel and Hiko. About 1,500 people attended the festivals. The boundary remains exactly where it was.

Rachel

The town of Rachel is the human heart of the Extraterrestrial Highway. The Little A’Le’Inn has been operating since 1988 as a diner, bar, and motel. The food is basic: burgers, the “Alien Burger,” sandwiches. The walls are covered in photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia about the base’s history. The owners have been watching the Groom Lake area for decades and are genuinely informative if you ask the right questions rather than just looking for merchandise. Motel rooms are basic and run $55-75 per night.

The Alien Research Center in Amargosa Valley, at the junction of US-95 and NV-373, is a large novelty shop with an oversized alien statue outside. It’s a natural first stop coming from Las Vegas and sells every piece of Area 51 merchandise that exists.

Getting There From Las Vegas

Rachel is about 2.5 hours from Las Vegas. Take US-95 north through Amargosa Valley to Nevada 373, then north on Route 375. The drive through Amargosa Valley toward Beatty passes Death Valley Junction, ghost towns, and some of the most genuinely empty landscape in the continental US.

Tonopah, 90 minutes north of Rachel, is the nearest town with standard amenities including a Safeway, gas stations, and multiple motels. The Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah is a 1907 mining-era building that has been properly renovated and is the most atmospheric place to stay in the region. The notoriously-named Clown Motel next to a 19th-century miners’ cemetery operates as a straightforward motel despite its odd reputation.

Fill up with fuel before leaving the Las Vegas metro area or at Amargosa Valley. Cell coverage on Route 375 is essentially nonexistent. Carry water, a spare tire, and snacks. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons; summer temperatures on the open highway run well above 40 degrees Celsius.