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A ramble down the Extraterrestrial Highway
Road Trippin’ – The Extraterrestrial Highway, Nevada, USA
Travel the Extraterrestrial Highway with us, including some rambling about the Nevada desert in search of Area 51 (see video below).
The Extraterrestrial Highway is almost 100-mile Highway 375 in Nye and Lincoln counties in south-central Nevada. The highway stretches from State Route 318 at Crystal Springs northwest to U.S. Route 6 at Warm Springs, with Rachel and the famous Lil Ale Inn located in the middle.
At the entry to Highway 375, clues to the extraterrestrial bent of the area come into focus.
And not much farther up the road is ‘Earth Station Area 51’ – a souvenir and curio shop dedicated to everything outer space and aliens.
Heading north, one traverses classic Nevada territory – with vast tracts of dusty and craggy countryside.
Nearing Rachel, it’s time to start thinking about Area 51 – the legendary US military base where universal secrets have allegedly been exposed and high-tech weaponry and gadgets have been created – or so the story, X-Files at any rate, goes.
I admit to being a bit of a rube when it comes to the lore, believing the famous Black Mailbox as the signal to the entry road to Area 51.
Alas, the road we could see coming down a hill along the highway, made clear by a couple massive dust plumes from a few vehicles driving down it, was the road (Groom Lake) we needed to take.
Instead, we stopped at the Black Mailbox, scoped out Joshua Trees (plenty in the area) and then created a massive dust plume ourselves as we cruised into the desert terrain, in search of a place where we’d have to turn around or be potentially shot dead etc.
After a few miles it was apparent I had pooped the bed in my directions and contemplated turning around but a dust vortex in the distance had my interest.
As we neared the vortex I assumed it was a crazy person on an ATV doing really tight donuts in the middle of the desert. Soon the ATV turned into a mad bull.
We stopped about 100 metres from the spot where a large bull was angrily giving the sandy desert floor a piece of its mind and horns and head and hooves. I don’t know what the desert did to this guy but he was miffed!
Until he became aware of our small black SUV idling in the near distance. The bull became dead still and glared at us, hunks of desert falling from its head and back. I took that as a sign to get out and take some pictures, before hastily speeding away once again in search of Area 51.
We eventually gave up and returned to the highway and soon ended up in Rachel – the only town along the Extraterrestrial Highway. It is an oasis and a beacon for space freaks the world over, with a visit to the Lil Alien Inn a must.
The famed establishment was worth the stop, with decent grub to be had, some trippy things to see and conversations to hear (we listened to three Trumpers rail about how Joe Biden stole the election) and I found a map how to get to Area 51. D’oh!
It’s a straight shot from Rachel to Warm Springs, with more transcendent desert terrain to soak in – and some neat spots to pull over and contemplate the isolated location you’re in.
Ponder what might be. What sights could one come upon? What mysteries could be answered or established?
You are left with wind and silence as you wonder – perfect for the highway travelled.
It is 40 minutes from Warm Springs to Tonopah, to the west, where we stopped for a couple of days to explore that famed wild west mining town and the Clown Motel (see separate Road Trippin’ article), as well as nearby ghost town (mostly) Goldfield.
Learn more about Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway.
Photos by Ian Cobb and Carrie Schafer
