What is needed for traveling to Area 51

Hi people, I have been some time thinking about traveling toward Las Vegas to visit Groom Lake, indeed, must be an incredible journey. I need to know that baggage should carry, scilicet: baggage, maps...

Once I arrive to Las Vegas, first I must go to Little A'Le'Inn to pick up information? I have heard that the Little A'Le'Inn have a few road maps of how to get to Groom Lake, right?

I need your help.

Regards.

You mean you're actually going to walk across the desert and try and get onto a top secret military base groom lake?
Because if thats what you mean then I suggest you take a bullet proof vest and a lawyer, although they wont help much when a hellfire missile is fired at you.
You can not move anywhere in that area without them knowing you will be detected before you even get to the perimeter.
The whole area is covered by sensor activated tracking satellites with thermal and flir.

reply to post by reynoldt

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Are you handy with a GPS. I have waypoints, tracks, etc.

Bring sunscreen, a hat, a case or two of bottled water, Clif Bars, flashlight and probably a half dozen things I'm forgetting. I can't believe the number of people who head out into the middle of nowhere without a damn flashlight.

My problem with giving out direction to various places is that there are so many idiots that don't think twice about doing these kind of trips without preparation. Tom Mahood's old website often had the warning "You can die on this hike." Thus far, I don't believe anyone has died hiking around Groom, but the sheriff has had to rescue people around Tikaboo.

Note you really need a full size spare if you drive off-road. This is hard to get in a rental vehicle these days.

You can see most of the routes on Google Earth. For instance, to get to the front gate, go to
N37.414582 W115.409519
Drive down the road and don't cross the border, i.e. stop at the warning signs.

To get to the back gate, go to
N37.634352 W115.719454
That is not the location of the black mailbox. Damn these wankers that post on google earth.
The black mailbox is here:
N37 27.437 W115 28.962

Cedar gate is at
N 37.765834 W115.981248

You can find info on the various locations here
www.lazygranch.com/a51sel.htm

For starters, I'd recommend watching this video of a trip out to Area 51.....don't be put off by the intro....the payoff is pure gold!

YouTube Link

[edit on 19-7-2008 by SystemiK]

Thanks for the aid gariac, [Being_From_Earth] I meant exactly the type of baggage that I would need to carry a trip in Groom Lake, Tikaboo Peak...

I started this post to learn more about the roads around the Area 51, notwithstanding I live in Spain, some friends and me we have decided to go to the U.S. within 2 years to visit Utah, Arizona and Las Vegas, including Groom Lake. In fact a friend of mine went to Las Vegas a few years ago and gave him for visiting the Area 51 accidentally, I had no idea that this was a secret military base and he said that a helicopter focused them with a very powerful and blinding light.

(I saw that on the DREAMLANRESORT website Joerg Arnu administrator has photographed new images of posters warning of the main entrance to Area 51 and seem to have changed).

I saw that people around the world traveled to this beautiful place and I would like to inform me on how to carry out a trip to tikaboo peak, because I do not want to miss any details of groom lake. Some special map of the region? How I reach to Tikaboo Peak?

The Fron Gate and Back Gate are good zones to see the trucks entering and camo dudes?

I hope your help
Regards.

[edit on 21-7-2008 by reynoldt]


[edit on 21-7-2008 by reynoldt]

Trust Gariac, he wont steer you wrong, and his advice is sound.

My advice based on one trip is just have a full tank of gas, its about an hour and a half out of Vegas. A few dead spots on the way, but that was on AT&T. Might be different on another carrier.
When you hit the ET Highway, I bypassed the mailbox and went to Rachel to see the little Ale'inn. I figured it was an interesting place to get some information, and chances were, coming out of Area 51, I'd head right back to Vegas instead of making the left to Rachel. It was a good choice because the offered a cheap little map to find the gates of Area 51. I know Gariac, I wont shutup about this little map, but its was the best 33 cents I spent the entire trip!

The mailbox road leads you to the warning signs, and Cammo dudes for sure. I would say dont cross the signs, but Ive seen a youtube of guys crossing that line here
I couldnt get myself to go beyond that sign. I got closer than anybody that day, close enough to get the Cammo dude overseeing the area to turn on his lights and begin moving in my direction, but considering it was 115 degrees, I'm sure he wasnt going to get out of that truck unless he had to.

If theres any questions, I will be happy to answer them but like I said, Gariac knows his stuff. Ive been once, and am from Texas. I can relate to ya wanting to go there.
As for a trip to Tikaboo, Its a full days journey acrss some pretty helacious terrain, I know that and you'll need a LOT of water. Theres no commerce up there its pretty much Dead. You'll also need a telescope. At this point I would say DEFINITELY talk to Gariac. I dont want to guess at what you would need up there. just PLEASE go prepared for the elements.


Good luck, take pictures, and post them here!




[edit on 22-7-2008 by kthulu]

an extra reinforced M1-A2 abrams, a force field to deflect the larger bombs, and quite possibly a ninja who can help you defeat the skilled camo dudes and all of the soldiers who guard the interior of the base

Some links with excellent info:

Lazy G Ranch (our very own illustrious Gariac)

Dreamland Resort - See Area 51 FAQ Link

Rachel, Nevada Home Page

Lincoln County Home Page

I think the best preparation you can do is to read the trip reports on Dreamland Resort and Lazy G Ranch to see exactly what other folks do on their trips.

Gariac has some great Google Earth files of hikes, etc, that you can follow with a GPS.

I would also encourage you to search the ATS boards for folks who have been there and U2U them to ask questions. Since you are coming in from outside the country you should try to get someone to escort you the first time.

Of course you can't solicit for people to take you on the ATS board, but I am sure if you U2U some of the posters for advice they might be able to help you out.

One thing you should be aware of is that if you violate any laws, particularly with regard to military facilities, you will be subjected to different penalties than a citizen would, especially in light of the last few years.

The Lincoln County authorities don't like people wandering around out there as it is, much less foreign nationals.

I hope you have a great trip and be sure to tell us all about it when you get back!

Thanks for the tips [emsed1] [kthulu] and [gariac], in fact the trip what we were going to do within about 2 years, which is why I want to be well informed before going there. I know it is a hard journey, In addition July and August it is very very hot...

I understand that on a certain month or day they have a measurer of danger, true? I think that what is needed are some maps, a GPS, a car with the tank filled, food, water, binoculars, clothes and go mountain with caution.

I would like to go to Tikaboo Peak, since from this zone one sees almost the whole base. I know that for us to reach Tikaboo Peak is very difficult and certainly we lose. Don't Worry, we will be in Las Vegas about two weeks, and spend about two or three days watching Groom lake, Rachel, Little A'Le'Inn and the extraterrestrial highway.

A friend of mine I had recommended the MGM Grand Las Vegas Hotel. He said that is a very good hotel, with hundreds of rooms, pools, night clubs... Which is the hotel that I have more near Groom Lake or of the extraterrestrial road? It takes approximately one hour at reach to the Groom Lake road?

Regards friends.

All the hotels on the Strip are on Las Vegas Blvd,it's about a mile long,so any hotel would suffice,just make sure you drive a reliable vehicle ,bad place to break down,not unlike Death Valley

Hey, reynoldt, I just recently made my first trip to the Las Vegas/Groom area in May and it wasn't all that bad.

The drive out to GLR and Rachel is not bad at all but do it during normal business hours, on a full tank of gas, with a good spare, something to drink, etc...common sense items. We didn't hike or do Tikaboo but we did hit the front gate and mailbox and town. As long as you stick to the known roads and trails and don't go fooling around in the desert then you should survive the trip easily. We left LV around 9am, got to the area a little before 11am, drove to the gate and watched for a few hours, then hit Rachel and bought the t-shirt, and were back in Vegas by 6pm. I found it to be a scenic drive worth making even if GLR wasn't the reason for the trip....different country.

As for Las Vegas, I found it to be much more expensive to stay/eat there than I had expected. Anything along the Strip is going to be pricey......$8 margaritas.....$16 lunch buffets.....even the fast food places along it are little higher than normal but not excessively so. We stayed at the Sahara on a weekday special for $40 a night.......to stay at the Super 8 (U.S. budget hotel chain) would have cost about $140 more for the same week. So, try to find a special for the hotel if you can and you can save some meaningul dollars.

Good luck....

reply to post by reynoldt

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Doing Tikaboo takes two days. You can't see much except in the morning or at night, so most people do the hike during the day and camp out on or near the peak at night, then watch the base in the morning. You will need binoculars that can either be used with a monopod, or image stabilized. The base is 26 miles away, so high magnification is needed, at least 15x to 18x.

What really concerns me are these people that rent a car (yes car) in Vegas and then try to do Tikaboo. A decade ago, that was possible, but the road only gets worse. The road is at the point where you can't get very close to the staging area without a high clearance vehicle. Probably not 4WD, but it certainly helps. Passenger tires are very likely to get a flat, and most SUV rentals are not set up with off-road tires. In fact, they will tell you not to go off-road with your SUV. [At nearly $5 a gallon, who rents a SUV for style?]

The hike is best done with a frame backpack, since you will be bringing water (about 9 liters in the summer time), a tent, pad, and sleeping bag. My pack is about 40lbs by the time I have all the gear aboard. Water alone is 15lbs. I once did the hike up and down in under 3 hours, but I wasn't carrying more than water. [I pre-positioned some water and sports drink to insure the person that would be doing the hike with me could make it to the top. This saved that person from having to carry 15 lbs of water. I never stranded anyone on the way up Tikaboo, but I hate turning back.] Carrying the full load, I'm doing about 3.5 hours up the trail, including the mile it take me to get to the last staging area. [Some people drive to this point.]

I could provide a GPS track, but all that would do is help you get back on the trail once you get lost. Basically, you need to follow the trail rather than the GPS. I'll think about this some more. Note some guy tried to do the hike at nigh with really good flashlight. He had to turn back. You can barely see the trail in the daytime.

All the other snooping is pretty safe. [Front gate, back gate] Roadblock Canyon needs 4wd. You can get pretty close to Bald Mountain with a car, but to reach the border, you probably need a truck or SUV. Cedar Pipeline Ranch road is paved.

Incidentally, I don't like those big hotels like the MGM. Check in/out is a zoo. I prefer the older hotels just off the strip like the Gold Coast or the Orleans. Of course, you can view the Janet terminal from the Tropicana Island Tower or the long term parking garage at McCarran. The rooms at the Tropicana are showing their age, and the hotel won't refurb it because ultimately they are going to tear it down and build something bigger.

Most visitors from outside the country have GSM phones. Unfortunately, GSM is not all that popular in rural areas since it has limited range due to timing issues [You can often "see" the tower, but you can't connect.] This file is a hack of sorts that more or less shows the coverage of GSM around the range.
gsm map, you mileage may vary

Hello again, thanks for the hints and web pages (Lazy Granch website is one of the best) as it shows some very interesenates maps of the entire military zone, including the Nevada Test Site. For example this map: lazygranch.com... (the first), it seems quite interesting because it shows almost all military zone.

Several of these maps, including some of the Dreamlandresort page I will serve as a great help in this trip to Groom Lake (in the hand alike took me about 30 or 40 folios of routes, maps and Groom Lake information ). As we come to Las Vegas we have plans of obtain a rented car, but for the moment I do not know which car, perhaps a ranchera, ie a car with space for about 5 people.

I would give enough time see the Tonopah Test Range and some strange things there? Aside of Area 51, there are some secret government facilities near Nevada to visit? I found this website(www.alienfreshjerky.com... It seems to be a sort of motel-restaurant, right? If you are near Groom Lake we can move there to enjoy the spectacular views and of course American meal.

These EG&G offices are in Las Vegas? In exactly which part? It's near Groom Lake? How do I get there? (the third and fourth image) www.lazygranch.com... If in the environs of the road of groom lake the camo dudesss they surround us by for some reason, That we do?

At night in that zone should see a spectacular sky and if we are lucky to look at any of the conventional aircraft that are beyond the Area 51.

Regards friends.

[edit on 24-7-2008 by reynoldt]

For what its worth, I would spend a little time finding out Area 51s schedule of events. I'm pretty sure I've seen it posted around here but not sure where to point you.

If you're ETA is about 2 years, do as much as you can to make sure you can see as much as possible, right?

I'll look around and see if I can find anything for you, or if anyone knows what I'm talking about, drop a link? That would be spot on.

Just to clarify, not ALL hotels are on the strip.
If you're not into the whole "strip thing" the Ritz Carlton is in Henderson, a quick 20 minutes away and its very isolated from the whole buzz.

But if you're looking for decent prices, I'd push you toward the Terribles
Terribles Hotel or Circus Circus, which is slightly cheaper, but it comes with a price, in which its lobby is a ghetto circus on mescaline. shades of Fear and loathing...

I seriously recommend the Ritz. For what your planning, choose a hotel you can think in.




EDIT: I've read through your posts.... are you making a documentary, perhaps?


[edit on 24-7-2008 by kthulu]

reply to post by reynoldt

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The Alien Fresh Jerky is not a motel. It is far away from Groom Lake. I did get some jerky from them years ago when they had a spot at the intersection of route 94 and 318. They got run out of town as far as I can tell.

The TTR is easy to snoop on. The hike to Brainwash is nothing and the base is much closer. However, the drive is still far. The only good thing is the roads are maintained a little bit better than the road to Tikaboo.

The area near the TTR is not one where I would like to sleep in a tent. There are all sorts of animals roaming the area. Wild horse, prong horn, coyotes, etc The only animal I ever saw on the way to Tikaboo looks like....
hip hop
Wait, I left out
liz

reply to post by JoeinTX

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My recollection is the Orleans had margaritas durng happy hour for some silly price like a buck. The places off the strip depends on the locals for business and are much more competitive. Generally anything owned by Coast or Station is a good deal. The Gold Coast "Cortez room" is great for steaks.

Coast
station

There are some casinos on the west side of town. You can avoid the tourists, but the prices are higher than just off the strip.

Redrock Casino has a great buffet, but I'm told their restaurants aren't so good. A members card gets you $2 off the buffet. The Suncoast has a good Mexican restaurant. It is easy to miss since you need to take an elevator to get to it.

gariac, all good info.


As this was my first trip to LV, it was a learning experience. I was disappointed and amazed at the same time. Strange experience.....I had one very similar when I visited NYC. Vegas is a "huge" place yet still a small town all at the same time.

I noted all of the "locals" casinos and hotels just off of the strip....I've been told by a friend the Rio is good.....there's a casino development south of downtown I could see from the Interstate.....we drove by the Hard Rock and saw the Hooters, etc. Are places like the Rio, HR, Hooters, and the like cheaper?


Part of the reason for our visit this time was the strip so that's where we stayed. We walked it, did it, saw it. Next time, maybe not so much so if there still are "cheap" decent places I'd be interested in knowing what they are.

reply to post by JoeinTX

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I never stayed in the Rio, but the buffet is considered one of the best. It is also the most expensive. Certainly it has the sexiest cocktail waitresses, but this would take the thread too far off topic.

If you are the type to get drunk as a skunk, you should probably drink at the hotel where you are staying. In that case, there probably is value in staying at the fancier hotels if you want more atmosphere. For example, a hotel like NYNY has a few lounges and the entertainment is top notch. The Gold Coast is a gambling hall, so they dedicate more space to gambling and have a small lounge. The entertainment is live and often you wonder where they hell they find all these people since they are no-names that can really crank out the tunes. Now from the Gold Coast, you can walk to both the Rio and the Palms. The Palms buffet is not so hot, but they have a decent Mexican restaurant. I stayed at Hooters when it was the San Remo. The view of the Janet terminal is not so good. I imagine the view in the casino itself is pretty good. ;-) The rooms at the San Remo were not very nice, but it may have been refurbished.

I stayed at the Stratosphere. That would be my choice if you were going to stay on that side of town. I stayed at Circus Circus once. Way too big, way too loud.

There is always downtown, but downtown is pretty dumpy. Now some of the hotels there are very nice, such as the Golden Nugget. Main Street Station is kind of cool if you like old train stations. It has that "wood everywhere" look. Good buffet.

Opinions of these hotels is tricky since everyone has different criteria. Also, if you book a room when the town is a bit crowded, they open up wings that normally don't get rented. For instance, Palace Station has a pretty run down part that is two story.

I left out Sams Town. Henderson is the town just next to Las Vegas. I haven't stayed there in a few years, but I thought it was nice.

Check out
alt.vacation.las-vegas
Usenet is what it is, but you can get a good idea of what is what. Also, special deals show up there.