Revisiting Area 51 (Part 2 – The Extraterrestrial Highway)

Tuesday, 1st June 2010 by

So you can't actually drive into Area 51 these days1, but you can get very, very close thanks to Nevada's Extraterrestrial Highway. This desolate stretch of road in the desert northwest of Las Vegas is reportedly home to more UFO sightings than anywhere else in the world2, so the state of Nevada officially changed the name from Highway 375 to Extraterrestrial Highway in 1996.

Extraterrestrial Highway

The Extraterrestrial Highway is really a quite barren and remote road. A few isolated signs post the speed limit as "Warp 7" or warn of "alien encounters for the next 51 miles."

Some of the only traffic on the road consists of buses that take workers in and out of base itself. Various bus stops, like this one, are reportedly where the workers get on and off the shuttle.

Bus stop

The only population that you’ll find on the Extraterrestrial Highway resides in the small town of Rachel, Nevada. Here you will find a few strange things like a UFO hooked up to tow-truck and a restaurant named the Little A'Le'Inn3. Rachel was also home to the giant KFC logo that GSS presented in 2007.

Rachel UFO on a tow truck

Near one of the entrances to Area 51 itself, there's a small white mailbox that has become one of the most popular photographed areas near the base. The mailbox is covered in graffiti with messages to aliens and well-wishes from believers. On the road near the mailbox, the street view car spotted some graffiti left on the highway as well.

Mailbox Graffiti

The actual main gate to Area 51 is down this road marked by nothing other than a stop sign.

Groom Lake Rd

According to reports of people who have taken the drive down the road, about 8 miles in you will see the “No Trespassing” signs and also security guards watching you in SUV's. Near the top of this road is one of the more popular locations where the guards park and watch you come in.

No Trespassing sign Security lookout

If you keep following the road around the corner, you'll find the main security gate that leads into the base. I'm sure you never want to make it this far unless you are supposed to be there!

Main gate

If you want to see what it's like to take the Extraterrestrial Highway and get as close as you can to Area 51, watch this great YouTube video.

  1. Unless you want to go to jail! ↩︎

  2. Surely thanks in part to its close proximity to Dreamland itself. ↩︎

  3. Be sure to try the Alien burger, it's "out of this world!" ↩︎

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Chris is on twitter! @djtripp20