Who all has camped at Area 51? Post your stories

Despite wether you believe my recent trip post or not. I would love to start a thread here about other's experiences good bad or indifferent. I'm always fascinated by others' stories of the mysterious base over at Groom Lake.

Hopefully we can get people posting stories and having fun discussions abuot them without attacking people's truthfulness.

Unless of course one story begins with ... I snuck into Area 51... lol

I have been traveling to the area for over 25 years and have camped out many times. I used to live in Vegas and now in Phoenix so I have easy access to the area. Last year I made 11 trips to the area and camped out six times and stayed the rest at the Inn or in Alamo. I have camped at Campfire Hill, The Back gate, Cedar Gate, Brainwash, and Basecamp. Prior to the landgrab we used to camp at Whitesides and Freedom Ridge. On the 50th anniversary of the base we had a large campout at Campfire Hill with about 33 people for 3 days. In all my camping trips I have never had any contact with the Cammos. They know Iam there and i know they are there but I never had any contact or confrontation with them. Weve had campfires right up on the fence at the Backgate and never drew any more than the usual attention. Some time ago two of us were exploring the Road Block Canyon Rd. and you are out of the cammos vision for awhile. The helicopter came over us for for a few minutes. I dont know if the cammos called them in or it was their normal flight path. Since 9/11 the choppers have been flying the border on a regular basis. I will be camping again in a few weeks and expect no more excitement than I have had on previous trips.
Hank

So, first we snuck into area 51... oh wait, someone's knocking at the front door, brb...




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[edit on 26-4-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

The only time I've seen the dudes approach my vehicle is when I climb Hawkeye Hill. They try the door locks.

There is a fire ring we built a few years by the back gate that is still there. I don't think the dudes care very much about visitors unless the cross the line. They do get your license plate, and work pretty hard at doing this. I camped at a location near the back gate that turned out to be the cammo dude "perch". My vehicle was just beyond a tree and thus hidden as the dudes approached. I popped out from behind the tree and the dudes had to back it up in a hurry. Well, too much of a hurry since the driver started going down the side of a hill. The other dude got out and directed. They hid elsewhere most of the night, then drove off. As soon as I got up the next morning and got out of the car, they drove in from the back gate and waited by where the road I was on intersected the road to the back gate and got my plate. I assume they parked a camera on me all night.

Here is the dude parking spot on google earth:
N37.55117 W115.80747
This waypoint is from my GPS and doesn't exactly line up with where I parked according to Google Earth. The tree I was behind is just a bit to the north of the waypoint. About 255ft using the ruler from Google Earth. There is a camera in the nearby hills.

that could only be 2 things. its a lie, or something you dreamed up in the psycho-home.oh, and its very boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by comet 3001
that could only be 2 things. its a lie, or something you dreamed up in the psycho-home.oh, and its very boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you for more useless contributions. they are very much appreciated.

Originally posted by gariac
Here is the dude parking spot on google earth:
N37.55117 W115.80747
This waypoint is from my GPS and doesn't exactly line up with where I parked according to Google Earth. The tree I was behind is just a bit to the north of the waypoint. About 255ft using the ruler from Google Earth. There is a camera in the nearby hills.

I don't see any gate there - probably gets them a "bit" edgy when someone is close to the line.

I MAY be camping in the area sometime around May 13th -17th; we'll see how things go. It's a long trip for me (about 1800 miles one way) and my health isn't great.

Originally posted by hank
I have been traveling to the area for over 25 years and have camped out many times. I used to live in Vegas and now in Phoenix so I have easy access to the area.

Ummm how does living in Phoenix now give you better access to Area 51 than Las Vegas?

Originally posted by bknapple I snuck into Area 51... lol

Why sneak? take the bus tour all you need is 14 people, apply 2 weeks in advanced at the DOE office on Losee Rd and have a thorough background check done... you won't be able to see out the windows until you get there, and you won't get the 'secret' tour but hey beats camping in the desert heat with scorpions and black widows trying to be your bed mates.

I am not sure what the draw is on camping out there... you could spend months and see nothing if you don't have the schedule

reply to post by zorgon


Sorry if you misunderstood. Iam saying that living in either location gives me easy access to the area. The flight time from Phoenix to Vegas is 50 minutes, and its about a 2 hour drive from the rent a car facility to Rachel.

Though I didn't camp, we spent several hours hanging around the GLR entrance and the cammies seemed only mildly interested in us.

We hit the border signs.....they just bulked-up and inched down the hill. We bivouaced at Campfire Hill and we couldn't have been more bored. No extra support, no base choppers, nothing. I spent the remainder of the time watching what traffic in/out of the gate and traffic in the valley. Adventure Photo Tours ran at least two tour groups out and to the border while we were there and the cammies stayed put.

Admittedly, not camping, but the security guys seemed pretty introverted and laisse-faire while we were there.

What you need to do is get a room in Vegas and watch for any unusual activity at Janet terminal... then go out

Or watch for the catering trucks heading out to the base... then you know something big is up

hey ben here. the old bknapple name wont work. lost my old email. so i created this one. just wanted to post that i went back to area 51 like i said i would in my other thread. nothing eventful happened this time though. good beer and people watching though. groom lake road was very active this past week. i think we counted about 8 different vehicles visiting.. for a thursday, thats pretty active. sad to see my fav waitress at the inn moved to vegas. while shes closer to us now,i really appreciated her at the inn. time to make more friends there now i suppose.

anyone been out lately?

Let me know when you see the catering trucks...

Then we will know something big is in the works

reply to post by zorgon


it almost felt that way. honestly, im used to seeing 1 or maybe two different cars drive by tops.

one funny spot. we saw a couple turn off on campfire hill by us, drive by past the hill, and parked about 350 yards away. We wondered if they we just going to sit there all night, and after about 2 hours , it went from sitting, to the car rocking back and forth. Upon seeing that, we laughed and turned back to our drinking to give them a little privacy. Although, how much privacy could they want knowing we were all there. lol.