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.

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
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.



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.

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 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 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 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.