Extraterrestrial Highway. Ninety-eight miles of maybe.

The Extraterrestrial Highway is the 98-mile stretch of State Route 375 between Crystal Springs, in Lincoln County, and Warm Springs, on US 6. The Nevada Commission on Tourism gave it the name in February 1996. It often sees fewer than 200 cars a day, and cell service runs from spotty to none.

• From Las Vegas: about 108 miles to Crystal Springs, north on I-15 and US 93, about two hours.
• Crystal Springs to Rachel: about 39 miles.
• Rachel to Warm Springs: about 59 miles.
• Warm Springs to Tonopah: about 50 miles west on US 6.

Drive times are from a routing service, rounded.

Miles are from downtown Las Vegas.

1. US 93 north past Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge.
2. Alamo, mile 95, and Ash Springs, about mile 102: the last gas for a while.
3. Crystal Springs, mile 108: E.T. Fresh Jerky at the US 93 junction. The Extraterrestrial Highway sign is about a mile west, where SR 318 and SR 375 split.
4. Alien Research Center: a few minutes past the sign, in Hiko.
5. The Black Mailbox: SR 375 at Mail Box Road, between Alamo and Rachel.
6. Rachel, mile 147: the Alien Cowpoke gas station and the Little A’Le’Inn.
7. Warm Springs, about mile 207: the end of SR 375, at US 6.
8. Tonopah, about mile 257: west on US 6, then home on US 95.

Drive times are from a routing service, rounded.

The sign stands at the junction of State Routes 318 and 375, just northwest of US 93 in Crystal Springs, about a mile west of E.T. Fresh Jerky.

NDOT took the old one down on September 12, 2019. Stickers and graffiti had made it unreadable, and pulling it also kept the photo crowds for that month’s “Alienstock” in Rachel from jamming the junction. The new sign was back up by that November, mounted higher to slow down vandals and thieves. It is 3 feet tall and 8 feet long, with a stealth bomber silhouette in the lower right corner.

There is a second Extraterrestrial Highway sign on the edge of Rachel, for the people coming in from the west.

E.T. Fresh Jerky

At the junction of US 93 and Nevada 318/375. Jerky, nuts, candy, gourmet olives, Martian Poop soda and alien murals out front. It claims the cleanest restrooms in Area 51, and you can sign the wall. Open Monday through Thursday 8 AM to 6 PM, Friday through Sunday 8 AM to 7 PM.

Alien Research Center

A silver Quonset hut at 100 Extraterrestrial Highway in Hiko, with a giant silver alien at the door. Inside: alien apparel, hats, mugs, magnets, Bob Lazar-signed posters and a small museum. Open every day, 9 AM to 5 PM.

The Black Mailbox

At SR 375 and Mail Box Road. It started as rancher Steve Medlin’s mailbox. After decades of mail theft and vandalism, he moved his box closer to his Tikaboo Valley ranch, and the black one showed up in its place. Now it is covered in stickers and stuffed with notes, trinkets and the occasional can of beer, left for whoever is listening.

Rachel is a Lincoln County community of about 70 people, the only one in Sand Springs Valley. An alfalfa farmer started it in the 1970s as Tempiute Village, later Sand Springs. A nearby mine brought a few hundred people; the first baby born in town was named Rachel, and the town took her name. The mine shut down by 1980. In 1996, parts of Independence Day were filmed here, and the ID4 monument out front of the Little A’Le’Inn holds a time capsule.

The Little A’Le’Inn

It opened in 1989 as Joe and Pat’s Bar and Grill and became the Little A’Le’Inn in 1991, as the UFO hunters kept showing up. Look for the flying saucer on a tow truck out front and the ceiling papered with money from all over the world. Order the Alien Burger and an Alien Amber Ale, which is brewed in Roswell, New Mexico.

The gift shop, restaurant and bar are open Thursday through Monday, 8 AM to 10 PM, and closed Tuesday and Wednesday. The kitchen closes an hour early. It is at 9631 Old Mill Street.

Staying in Rachel

The Little A’Le’Inn rents rooms in multi-room units, RV spaces with power and water, and tent sites. Book online; it does not take phone reservations, and walk-ins get whatever is left. There is no EV charging. The next rooms west are in Tonopah, about 110 miles away.

Area 51 sits near Groom Lake, inside the Nevada Test and Training Range, an active military base about 150 miles north of Las Vegas. It was founded in 1955 to test the U-2 spy plane, and the government admitted it existed in 2013. Rachel is the closest town.

You cannot visit. The closest point the public can reach is more than 15 miles away, the airspace is restricted, and the boundary is marked with orange posts and patrolled by armed guards. Trespassers are caught and prosecuted. Obey the posted signs.

Searching for Area 51 near Pahrump or Las Vegas? This is the one you mean. The Area 51 Alien Center is not on the Extraterrestrial Highway at all. It is on US 95 at 5388 US-95, Amargosa Valley, at the Nevada 373 junction, on the southwest corner of the Nevada National Security Site.

• From Pahrump: about 44 miles, north on Nevada 160 to US 95.
• From Las Vegas: about 88 miles north on US 95.
• To Death Valley: Nevada 373 runs south to Death Valley Junction and CA 190.

It is a souvenir shop, a truck stop with gas and a diner in back serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, painted green and pink so you cannot miss it. Open daily, 5 AM to 11 PM.

Drive times are from a routing service, rounded. More on this road in our Las Vegas to Tonopah on US 95 and Las Vegas to Death Valley guides.

There is one gas station on the whole route: the Alien Cowpoke Gasoline & General Store at 8300 Grant Street in Rachel, open daily 8 AM to 5 PM. It is the first gas station Rachel has had in more than a decade, about half a mile east of the Little A’Le’Inn.

• Before: Alamo and Ash Springs, about 45 to 52 miles east of Rachel.
• After: Tonopah, about 110 miles west of Rachel.
• EV charging: Las Vegas, Alamo or Tonopah.

Cows on the road

This is open range, with no fence to keep cattle off the pavement. The Little A’Le’Inn recommends staying under 45 mph at night, because the dark cows blend right in.

The loop from Las Vegas

Travel Nevada’s route is a 470-mile loop: Las Vegas north on US 93 to Crystal Springs, the E.T. Highway to Warm Springs, US 6 to Tonopah, then US 95 home through Goldfield and Beatty. That is about nine hours of driving. Travel Nevada suggests two days, with a night in Rachel or Tonopah; a day trip there and back is, in its words, a bold mission.

From Pahrump

Run it backwards. Take Nevada 160 to US 95, stop at the Area 51 Alien Center, go north through Beatty and Goldfield to Tonopah, then east on US 6 to Warm Springs, down the E.T. Highway and home by US 93 and Las Vegas. That loop is about 485 miles. The US 95 half is in our Las Vegas to Tonopah guide, with Beatty and Tonopah on their own pages.

Where to stay

In Alamo, the Sunset View Inn has themed rooms: aliens, the Wild West, hippie and “Under the Sea.” In Rachel, the Little A’Le’Inn. In Tonopah, the Mizpah Hotel, the Clown Motel and the Belvada, among others.

Rachel weather

Average highs and lows: summer 92°F and 54°F, fall 72°F and 35°F, winter 48°F and 18°F, spring 68°F and 34°F.

Drive times are from a routing service, rounded.