From McCarran airport to Groom Lake area

Hello people, within a year and a half roughly I'll make a trip to Las Vegas with some friends and wanted to know which hotel is the best to see the janet airplanes. Considering that we landing at the McCarran Airport, had intended to rent a vehicle, possibly a 4x4. A trip in car from Colorado to Las Vegas is really bored and heavy. I see a few maps on internet really interesting, one of which shows the Nellis military complex. Other maps show how to take Groom Lake Road and 95 highway. What road we should take first from the McCarran Airport?

obscurantist.com...

www.geocities.com...

On the journey I would be interested to know if there are any gas station or restaurant near of Alamo area to eat some snacks. We are not those who only visit one zone, like area 51 and this is it, no, if we are going to see Groom Lake and Las Vegas, we are also interested to see TTR and other installations. I heard that is can talk to the TTR security guards, right? It is clear that we are not going to get into trouble, in fact if we have problems with the roads, we talk with them and some citizen.

First off.... the hotel..


If you want a perfect view of the JANET's. Stay at the Tropicana Hotel. Ask for a room overlooking the southeast side with a clear view of the airport. The front desk clerk will probably know why.


Second, the journey to Area 51... While map quest works, Ill give you an easy step by step journey.

From the Trop, you get on the 15 north freeway. VERY easy to get to from the Tropicana. (about 30 seconds) Take the 15 north about 25 minutes to the 93 highway exit. Theres only one way to go on the 93, which is roughly NNW. You then take the 93 for roughly one hour depending how you drive, until you get to Alamo.

There are 3 gas stations in Alamo. FILL UP. There is a Chevron first, the Alamo truck stop next, and a Shell last. All of these are off highway 93. It runs right through Alamo, no need for exits as the speed limit drops from 70 to 45 in the town.

After Shell, you go 5 or 10 minutes north until you see a turn off to the left to highway 375 (the extraterrestrial highway) You take the wide left turn and a fork in the road will emerge in a minute. Veer left in the fork to stay on highway 375. Take that 20 miles until you see a dirt road wit ha stop sign on your left connecting to 375. This is Groom Lake Road. You can take that 12 miles or so to the border and a couple camping sites. Past Groom Lake Road will be the mailbox 10 minutes later. Past that will be the town of Rachel in another 15 miles.


Hope this helps.

Will you be near Colorado Springs?
Tesla spent some time there.
I heard it is a popular location and the population has increased.
There might be a few memorials to Tesla.
He broke the town power plant and had to repay them.
People were given hot foots due to traveling electricity
too close to the surface.

There has to be something left even in salvage yards.
Imagine finding from the era still left in town.

Sounds like a great trip.
Someone the went to Reno said the mountains in the distance
were brown or rust and took a trip to Incline Village for
adventure.
Don't know how the distant mountains look from Vegas
but there should be celebrities in Vegas more than Reno.
Have a good time.

ED:I did a general google map back to Vegas:
Map back

[edit on 4/21/2009 by TeslaandLyne]

reply to post by bknapple32


At the Tropicana registration desk, ask for the Island Tower, as high as possible, and facing the airport. I should point out I ran into a rather pissed off British visitor that made a reservation with the Tropicana for such a room, and they placed him elsewhere. He ended up canceling the rest of the days he reserved at the Tropicana and got a room at Hooters. The view from Hooters is not so good, well, for the Janet terminal. I've stayed in both the Hooters towers back when the casino was the San Remo, and it wasn't worth the hassle. The only way I will get a room at the Tropicana is to book it in person at the desk. If I can't see the Janet terminal, I rather stay elsewhere.

Note that they have done some construction near the Janet terminal that makes the view from the Tropicana not nearly as good as it used to be. I don't think the waiting room and entry door. That UFO hunters video was done recently, so it reflect what you will see. Of course, a telescope will come in handy.

Janet airlines
and particularly
janet terminal high resolution
Actually, google earth has better imagery, so this page needs to be updated.

This link shows the old and new view. There seems to be some spot on the ground where you can view the doorway into the building, ash shown by the UFO hunters.

If you want to view the Janet aircraft in flight, I did a thread here with photographs from a shopping center.
Viewing Janets in flight

You can also see the Janet terminal from the long term parking garage at McCarran. The place is infested with bicycle cops (actually a good thing), none of which seemed to care about me using the garage for snooping. However, if you loiter there, it is possible they will ask what you are doing. Just tell the truth since they probably encounter sight seers all the time. You can't see the passengers entering and exiting the aircraft from the parking garage.

reply to post by Groomforce


Well, technically, the TTR security will talk to you. I never did the reverse. I suppose you could go up to the guard shack and talk to them, but they will probably tell you to stop bothering them. After all, they are at work.

A year and a half will be winter. You can't do much around the range in the winter. Granted you are from Colorado and used to the cold. but I really suggest visiting in the spring or fall. In winter, the cold will get you. In summer, lightning is a real danger.

Originally posted by gariac
reply to post by Groomforce

 

Well, technically, the TTR security will talk to you. I never did the reverse. I suppose you could go up to the guard shack and talk to them, but they will probably tell you to stop bothering them. After all, they are at work.

A year and a half will be winter. You can't do much around the range in the winter. Granted you are from Colorado and used to the cold. but I really suggest visiting in the spring or fall. In winter, the cold will get you. In summer, lightning is a real danger.

Funny you mentioned lightning...

My gf and I too ka group on the 10th and we dealt wit ha variety of weather for our 2 night camping trip.. From 30's at night, to 60s at day, to cloudy skies to sunny skies, from sunny one minute and hail the next.. all topped off wit ha visually stunning lightning storm at night.

Alright companions, in fact I love drive through Las Vegas area (especially on the warm roads of the Lincoln contry). We go between the months of July and August, because it is better to go with a good day to see the groom and TTR facilities. ¿What real danger exists in visit these sites in summer? I think that it's much better in summer, since you can camp in Tikaboo Peak at night and watch the sky and groom lake "birds". What kind of ground prospect glass or binoculars we used to observe the aircrafts flying across the sky over Coyote Summit and groom lake?



[edit on 22-4-2009 by Groomforce]

Hi again, I had intended to bring this telecospe: Celestron mini mak C65

www.opticsplanet.net...

I seen in a few websites that it is necessary go to Groom Lake area with good binoculars, I need to know if this telescope is befitting to see groom from tikaboo peak. Is it possible go up to Tikaboo peak in car?

I wanted to know if there is any Red Flag operation in the summer at Nellis, and I'd like take a few pictures and see the air training. Is't difficult walk up to Coyote Summit?

www.schweich.com...

www.mountainzone.com...

Thanks in advance for the answers.
Regards.

I have seen Tikaboo Peak struck by lighting twice. You can do the hike in the sumer if you want, but I suggest sleeping at a lower elevation such as the false summit prior to doing the last hike to Tikaboo Peak.

reply to post by Groomforce


Well I suppose a 65mm Mak is better than no telescope at all, but I wouldn't expect it to be very good. The good telephotography from the peak has been done with small refractor telescopes. About the cheapest scope that would be worth the effort to haul up the hill would be the Orion ED80
ED80
This is not the scope they Orion had Vixen manufacture. It's a Chinese copy, but pretty good for the buck. A Vixen would cost double. You can probably find a use ED80 that was made by Vixen. I use a Takahashi FS78, which is no longer made.

The thing to bear in mind with telescopes is you need to spend a lot of money to get a little bit of improvement. If you really get serious about doing this kind of photograph, the FS78 is really ideal. With a Tak, everthing is threaded, so it makes telephography a breeze. Most scopes use compression rings or screws to hold the accessories in place, and things move.

This page has instructions on how to do telephotography:
telephotography

I'd suggest getting a good pair of binonculars over a cheap scope. Get the kind that can accept a tripod mount. Bring a monopod to hold the binocs. Obviosuly image stabilized binocs are what you really want, but those cost money. The thing is with a telescope, unless it is set up just right, you can't watch very long. With binoculars, you cam move around.

If you want used optics, I'd avoid Ebay. Try astromart.com instead. Unfortunately nowadays you have to pay to join it. I've bought many eyepieces from astromart (Vixen LVW). If you don't want to pay for a Vixen, a good low cost eyepiece is a University Optics orthoscopic. Orthoscopic eyepieces don't have a wide field, but they are very sharp. It is generally what you use for eyepiece projection telephotography.

Regarding Coyote summit, the photography is not done from the peak indicated. Rather, you just park on the hill and hike up a peak to the south. There is no trail and a GPS wouldn't do you much good. On Google Earth, the spot is at
37.566667° -115.669865°

I live here in Vegas and just last monday, April 20, I was on the Mandalay Bay to Luxor tram and I saw the Janet airplane. It was around 12:00 pm when I saw it and I was surprised I actually saw it. I think you might also be able to see it from the Luxor hotel or Mandalay (Of course you'd need to get the airport view).

Both the Luxor and Madalay Bay work, but the angle is kind of odd. This is based on looking at the map versus doing photography from either location.

People used to just get in the elevator of the Tropicana Island Tower and look out the window. I'm told security chases you out. All this is hearsay since I've never bothered to use those techniques.

You can get a view from the top level of the Hooters parking garage.

reply to post by gariac


the girl and i stayed at the luxor for my day last week. we decided to pretend to be tourists for two nights... and yea, i saw a semi obstructed view of come janets from the 19th floors