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Driving to Area 51 + Alien Spotting along the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada

One place that we had to visit on our road trip of America was the Extraterrestrial Highway (otherwise known as Nevada State Route 375).

The Extraterrestrial Highway is a desert highway in Nevada in which many alien activity has been reported.

Driving through the area is interesting in itself & it is clear why there are conspiracy theories around regarding alien presence considering the completely deserted terrain with nothing but cows & rabbits for miles within sight.

So if you’ve survived Vegas (and shared your winnings on IG with a vegas caption), make sure to plan a road trip to Area 51.

The Extraterrestrial Highway & Area 51

One of the main conspiracy theories surrounding extraterrestrial highway is the top secret Area 51 government base.

As the American government won’t reveal what they do there & when you arrive at the gate there are big fines for venturing in the area or taking photos, there are many conspiracy theories regarding aliens and the Government.

Area 51 Theories

Our favourite Area 51 theories include:

  • The storage of and reverse engineering of alien UFO’s;
  • The examination of living and dead extraterrestrials recovered from crashed UFO’s;
  • The collaboration of the U.S. government with extraterrestrial being; and
  • Genetic engineering of human – extra-terrestrial hybrids utilizing alien specimens recovered from the area.

How to Get to Area 51?

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drive near Area 51 on our extraterrestrial highway road trip.

The only problem was we had no idea how to get to Area 51.

We had driven from Las Vegas to the sleepy town of Rachel in the Nevada desert. 

So when we overheard one of our fellow bar patrons at the Little A’Le’Inn talking about his plans to drive to Area 51, we knew it was our chance.

So at about 10pm at night we hopped in our car to follow this stranger down the highway to Area 51.

How close can you get to Area 51

We assumed Area 51 was close to the Little A’Le’Inn. We were wrong.

After driving for about 30 minutes we took an nondescript turnoff to an nondescript road.

The road was unpaved, dusty and full of potholes. We could tell by their illuminated eyes that there was plenty of wildlife around.

We then drove for at least another 30 – 40 minutes into the middle of nowhere in the pitch dark.

Somewhere along the way it did occur to us that if we weren’t abducted by aliens or picked up by the military, we could be driving into an elaborate serial killer’s trap.

I should probably mention we hadn’t told the guy we would be following him; so he might have been as wary as we were.

At some point Mike had to stop for a bathroom break and we lost our market car. Great.

Area 51 Signs

We kept driving until without warning we reached a 12 foot tall barbed gated fence which stretched was far as we could see.

There appeared to be guard towers somewhere in the distance. It was hard to tell.

What was clear to us was that we could absolutely go no further and should probably turn around right away.

There were Area 51 signs all over the place warning not to go further, not to trespass, not to fly drones.

In a panic we decided we’ve done well to get to the Area 51 gate but it was time to follow the single lane road back out of there as quick as possible.

The eerie thing was we never passed or saw our “friend” again…

Unfortunately we don’t have any photographs from Area 51 because, you know, the no filming signs genuinely scared the crap out of us.

The thought of being abducted by aliens is nowhere near as scary as the thought of being in trouble with the US military.

extraterrestrial-highway-area-51-cows

Too scared to photograph Area 51 gate and signs. These cows at twighlight along the Extraterrestrial highway are pretty eerie though

Where to Stay

There isn’t really anywhere to stay on Extraterrestrial Highway so in my view you really have two options available to you.

Extraterrestrial Highway Hotels

Firstly, you could make the two hour journey back to your hotel in Vegas however, you are going to arrive back very late and exhausted.

Extraterrestrial Highway Camping

The second option (if you are not opposed to roughing it & in my opinion the preferable option) is to camp or stay at Little A’Le’Inn in the little town of Rachel.

This is the only accommodation/bar located in the middle of the Extraterrestrial Highway.

The accommodation there is very basic (you stay in an RV) for around $50 USD a night or you can camp on their premises for free.

They do have wifi there but it is very intermittent.

Extraterrestrial Highway Restaurant

Little A’Le’Inn is serves simple diner food including a signature alien burger for around $7USD.

It is also the only bar in the middle of the extraterrestrial highway.

It is also possible to purchase alien merchandise if you are so inclined. They also have an extraterrestrial highway sign for sale.

extraterrestrial-highway-camping

Yes, the Little A-le-Inn is where you should camp along the Extraterrestrial highway

Extraterrestrial Highway Things to do

When visiting the Extraterristrial Highway don’t miss these activities:

  1. Watch out for Aliens: Pull over somewhere along the Extraterrestrial highway at night when no one is around & keep a look out for aliens. It is quite a scary experience being all alone in the desert. At best, you may spot an alien. At worst, you have a terrific view of the stars as there are no city lights around.
  2. Visit Area 51: If you are still game to visit Area 51 after reading our post above then check it out. You’ve been warned…
  3. Have a Drink at Little A’Le’Inn: We had a fun time eating our alien burger and chatting to UFO hunters at the bar. Conversation ventured way off topic to gun control in Australia. ‘How did the gun buyback go? What happens if you’re waiting at traffic lights and someone tries to rob you at knife point?’ Errr, I would wind my window up …
  4. Extraterrestrial Highway Sign: You will find the iconic sign around the turn off to the town of Rachel. GPS coordinates here: Extraterrestrial Highway Sign Coordinates on Google Maps are 37.5325,-115.2322222.
  5. Take a photo with a creepy alien: This creepy alien can be found at the ominously named Alien Research Centre. Google Maps directions here: https://goo.gl/maps/ug8czKET96S2
extraterrestrial-highway-aliens

Alien sighting on the Extraterrestrial Highway. Lovely surprise

Tips for Visiting the Extraterrestrial Highway & Area 51

Watch out carefully for rabbits & cows at night running in front of your car at night. It is really true what they say about a rabbit being caught in the headlights & our car nearly served off into the desert to avoid hitting one.

Make sure you stock up on petrol & food before venturing the Extraterrestrial highway. Even though we filled up with a full tank prior to entering Extraterrestrial highway, we had to conserve our fuel. The nearest petrol station to Extraterrestrial highway is a few hours away.

Area 51 is closest to Las Vegas but also only a few hours drive from LA and California, some of our favourite places to visit in the US. We combined our love of these places and our love of road trippin’ in the US for an awesome drive to Area 51.

If you’re planning to the Extraterrestrial Highway, make sure to document your journey on social media (so we people can track you down if you mysteriously disappear)!

Caption your IG posts perfectly with these road trip quotes, California captions and LA quotes if you’re visiting from the Golden State.

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Author

  • MC Miller

    MC Miller is a travel blogger and writer who has travelled America extensively and abroad to over 80 countries. He founded Couple Travel The World in 2017. Since then, he has spent over 6 years on the road as a full time travel couple. When he not traveling he likes to spend quality time with his partner Bett, planning our their next date or romantic getaway!