Area 51 ~ 9/24/13

About 2 1/2 hours out of Vegas is the super secret, often conjectured about place known as Area 51. We checked out of our Vegas hotel in the morning, and before we headed to our hotel in Page, Arizona we went to see what we could see. 

The landscape we drove through was sparse, desolate, and beautiful. There's not much in between Vegas and Rachel (the closest town to Area 51), so going with a full gas tank is essential.

 Finally a sign that we were getting close.

Unfortunately for us, this place was closed.

We finally came to what we believed was Groom Lake Road, the road leading to the front gate but we continued on to be sure. Sure enough, we next came to the Black Box, long considered to be the mailbox for Area 51, and yes, it's now painted white :-)

We drove on to find the back gate road and the town of Rachel.

We found the much photographed restaurant, Little A'Le'Inn, in Rachel.

 

We ordered and enjoyed the world-famous alien burgers.

We took the 10 mile drive in on the partially paved road just outside of Rachel to find the back gate to Area 51 and here it is.

We didn't get out but took these pictures from the car. Signs warned against taking photographs but it was irresistible. One brief stop and we were back heading to the main highway to find the front gate. 

Important to note ~ there are no road signs or markers of any kind. We knew there were three roads in and after seeing the back gate and the black box road, we knew this road had to be Groom Lake Road. And it's a dirt road all the way (15 or 20 miles). The dust became so bad it started coming in through the air conditioner. So we traded off between sweltering in the car or sucking up dust.

We passed a few cars coming the other way and saw them coming from miles away due to the dust being kicked up. And I'm sure Area 51 security likes it that way (supposedly there are road sensors as well). We finally got close to the mountains seen in the background in the above photo and spotted a white vehicle up on a hill. We drove around a bend and there we were.

There's no gate here, just the signs, the camo guys up on the hill, and the imaginary line in the road. Allegedly there's a guard house just around the bend but we didn't venture forth to confirm. We did get out for some photos and then took that long, dusty road back, satisfied that we had made it here.

It was a great adventure and we were happy we took the time to experience it. One of these years, we will make a trek to Roswell 😉.