Rachel
Rachel is a village in Lincoln County, Nevada. It is famous for being the closest habitation to the Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51 which is the location of Lockheed-Martin's Skunkworks and notable for the development of the stealth bomber and fighter and the U-2 spyplane.
Get in
By car
Rachel is 3 hours north of Las Vegas going along Nevada Highway 375 (Extraterrestrial Highway).
Get around
Rachel is an unincorporated rural town in Nevada located off of Nevada State Highway 375 (which is also known as the "Extraterrestrial Highway"). The theme around the town is an alien/space theme, because of Rachel's proximity to Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51. There is not much to do around the small town, however, although it enjoys some tourism from people interested in UFOs, aliens, and aviation.
See
| Note: Several signs near the boundary of Area 51 have also become tourist attractions, though they are under surveillance by cameras, armed guards, and aircraft. Guards are posted near these sites to ensure you do not attempt to enter Area 51, though it is unlikely they will stop you from viewing these signs. | |
There are not many tourist attractions. There was a large logo for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) on the ground in the northern part of town which claimed to be the first logo to be seen from outer space. There was an Area 51 Research Center operated in the late 1990s by UFO researcher Glenn Campbell, but it is now closed. There is one motel. The area remains popular for geocaching.
- 🌍 Black Mailbox. It is used as a gathering place for UFO seekers. It was stolen in January 2015, and has been replaced with a new Black Mailbox.
- Extraterrestrial Highway signs. The Route 375 signs, more commonly known as the Extraterrestrial Highway signs are notable for the marks placed by tourists, the UFO/F-117 Nighthawk symbols and that they don't use the Highway Gothic font for the main text.
Do
You can walk around Rachel on foot. Aside from the geocaching and signage, the Little A'Le'Inn (a bar, restaurant, and motel) on State Highway (or State Route) 375 is a popular destination with tourists.
Buy
There is a gift shop in Rachel on Canyon Road.
- 🌍 Alien Research Center, 100 NV-375, Hiko (35 miles south of Rachel), ☏ +1 775-725-3750.
Eat, drink & sleep
- 🌍 Little A'Le'Inn, 1 Old Mill Road, ☏ +1 775 729-2515, fax: +1 775 729-2551, contact@littlealeinn.com. Has a gift shop, bar, and restaurant. The rooms have been upgraded with microwaves, small refrigerators, new furniture, bedding, air conditioning, and other types of upgrades. They are pet-friendly (with deposit) and offer powered RV sites and a tent campsite. rooms from $100, RV $30, tent $10.
Stay safe
Under absolutely no circumstances should you even think about trying to enter Area 51 if you are an unauthorized civilian: it is a high-security military base and guards are authorized to use lethal force against intruders.
As for more mundane concerns, you should be cautious of heat stroke and dehydration in the desert.
Go next
Map of places with Wikivoyage articles nearby
If you want to get out, take Extraterrestrial Highway, but don't get near Nellis Air Force Range or Area 51 unless you have formal authorization from these military bases.
- Panaca – approximately 98 mi (158 km) northeast of Rachel on the NV-375 (Extraterrestrial Highway), US-93 (Great Basin Highway), then US-319 is Panaca. Panaca is a Mormon settlement and one of two places in Nevada that forbids gambling (the other being Boulder City).
- Pioche – approximately 108 mi (174 km) northeast of Rachel on the NV-375 (Extraterrestrial Highway), then US-93 (Great Basin Highway) is Pioche. The town that means pickaxe in French was built to mine silver and has plenty of historic buildings still standing today.
- Tonopah – approximately 109 mi (175 km) west of Rachel on the NV-375 (Extraterrestrial Highway), then US-6 (Grand Army of the Republic Highway) is Tonopah. Tonopah is a former silver mining town that is about halfway between Las Vegas and Reno.
| Routes through Rachel |
| merges with ← Warm Springs ← | W E | → Crystal Springs → merges with |