Good place to park an RV near Area 51?

My best friend and I will be going out there very soon and don't want to waste time/miles looking for a great spot. I was there 2 months ago and wasn't really looking for a place to pull over and park for a few days. I don't want to upset anyone and I mean ANYONE! We just want to park as close as possible without upsetting but getting to see at least the bus that supposedly drives the workers in. I have heard that near the mailbox is good, but was thinking closer would be better. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not sure about the laws and camping but I heard damn near anywhere is legal.

Also, I can't remember how much room there was to turn around at the border. We are a couple of chicks that have never driven an RV and have minor anxiety issues, and don't want camo dudes laughing at us trying to turn around an RV hahaha

At that fork in the road, where you continue straight, would that be an ok place? Experienced Area 51 campers I need your advice! We need an RV because neither of us feel like squatting under surveillance and we will be out there for 5 days. Anyone have advice on RVs too? I have no idea how soon we would need to dump the tanks and don't want to if I don't have to. Gross. Gross for whoever has to do it also.

Any advice is much appreciated! Can't wait for trip #2! This time we will see something for sure! Anything. Not expecting a close encounter of any kind.

If you want to park close their is a spot on Groom Lake Road about 1/8 of a mile before the border. Its on your right hand side before you go down the hill and around the corner to the border signs. Its a flat area and many RVs and travel trailers have been in and out of there with no problem.
Enjoy your adventure.

Hi Hank Thanks!

I was going to head over to your site and ask you next,what a coincidence. Small world. Someone on YouTube just told me about that spot. The only problem I see, is that I will pass that spot, not knowing how close I am to the border, turn that corner and be at the border. In an RV. Trying to turn it around looking like an idiot in front of the camo dudes. I don't want that. I hate being laughed at and have never driven an RV before.

Anyone remember how much room there is at the border to turn around? It's not going to be a huge RV, just a 22 foot or so.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

MUST

RESIST

URGE

TO

OFFER

TO

CHAUFFEUR

CHICKS

IN DESERT.

Their is no problem making a u turn at the signs. Ive seen 40 ft. motor coaches do it Their is a pull out on your right hand side before the signs that will give you all the room you need and then some. The cammos will be up on the hill above the pull outr but they wont bother you. They are just looking.

Emsed, we would love it if you and Hank would escort us to the border. Holding hands and skipping across the border.. It's how we always wanted to die.

Hankypanky, I just watched some videos on YouTube and was relieved to see the turnout on the right. That's where I scooped up sand for my friends last time. I just heard that a quarter of a mile before the signs is actually not public land.. But I hear lots of things

EW!

I am NOT holding hands with Hank!

I am, however, probably gullible enough that if a couple of chicks told me to walk over and test the security measures I would do it just to show off.

Now that I think about it, though, holding hands with Hank would probably be better than spending the remainder of my natural life in a prison cell with a big hairy guy named 'Beulah'.

I should probably just go ahead and pass on this one.

Damn! We wanted to lure show offs out there so we would have a show We want to see SOMETHING while we are there. Probably not going to see anything but the bus. Will we get arrested for flashing camo dudes? We want to make a big sign for them "F*CK aliens, we love camo dudes!" We should pick up some old Wal*Mart vests

The land is all public land before the border. I have camped in that exact spot more than 10 times and have never been bothered. If you go to www.dreamlandresort.com and click on the trip reports link on the left hand side of the page and scroll down to 2005 and go to Area 51 50th anniversary campout you will see pics and a trip report for that exact area.

Originally posted by Trisch
Will we get arrested for flashing camo dudes?

OK I am totally back in.

Did I mention I can drive an RV and that I am a good cook?

You know, this really could be the 'disclosure' that the world has been waiting for. If not then there are probably going to be a lot of reports of 'flashing orbs' during your trip.

Can you still get up to Tikaboo Peak or has that been claimed. You can still see Dreamland from there.

reply to post by TamtammyMacx


Tikaboo Peak is not restricted, other than by the determination of the person that wants to visit it.

Since Dreamland refers to the restricted airspace, you can see Dreamland from lots of places. ;-) Seeing the base at Groom Lake takes more work.

reply to post by Trisch


The camo dudes enjoy a good show In fact, they go way out of their way to enjoy a good show.
www.lazygranch.com...

Personally, I think you ladies will get bored being in one spot for 5 days. Ideally you would have a RV and a car. Sleep/cook/etc with the RV, then poke around the area with the car, or more ideally SUV.

Given a human is taller than most of the shrubs in the general area, I understand your reluctance to squat. I can say with the exception of the Power Line Overlook, nobody from the base has ever bothered me east of the ET Highway. [I have been buzzed by aircraft at the power lines and also had a UAV overhead.]

Two people can sleep in the back of a SUV, though I hear renting a SUV is pretty steep. However, getting something like a HHR is just like renting a midsize car. Two could sleep in the back of one of those, and you would have a vehicle that could travel most of the dirt roads. The only annoying thing with a SUV is you generally need to unload stuff from inside to get room to sleep.

If you go the RV route, the spot Hank mentioned that is just before the border is fine. You won't overrun it because the road takes a sudden drop just before you hit the warning signs.

I try to time my visits either for an event (Red Flag, JEFX, Weapons School MEP) or pick days when their is no moon for extended periods of time. The base just plain doesn't fly in moon light. I use my GPS to get the sun/moon charts, but if you don't have one, this will do:
aa.usno.navy.mil...

There are two situations of "moonlessness." One, just pick dates when the moon isn't shinning at night. Two, pick dates where there is a fair amount of moonless time. I kind of like the latter because you know if the base is going to do a test, it will be that one short period. For the moonless night case, they have all night to do their test. I've only watched one test from Tikaboo,and it was quite short, maybe 15 minutes of flying.

To get the moonless dates, figure on at least 1 hour to do the test, and about two hours for it to get dark after sunset. Thus find days when the time between sunset and moonrise is at least 3 hours. As a rule of thumb, at full moon, the sun sets and the moon rises at the same time. The moon then slips about an hour each night. So 3 or 4 days after the full moon will be when testing can start.

If you watch the various videos Ian Metson has done, you will get a daytime test from Tikaboo:
www.youtube.com...

The base will fly planes during the day if it is not a secret. In this case, they were testing a Russian SU-27 with the MIT radar tracking plane N105TB. I managed to photograph the SU-27 well into the free territory, and right between sessions of Red Flag:
www.lazygranch.com...
Unfortunately, I neglected to photograph the test plane.

You might want to consider getting a scanner, say a Pro-97. These are around $80 on Craigslist, and often a bit above $100 new when on sale. It has a signal stalker mode. With luck, it will capture the plane over your head. Obviously, you can program the memory bank with known frequencies too.
www.lazygranch.com...
is my most current list.

Obviously there is other stuff you need. Binoculars come to mind.

i dont understand why everyone thinks the camo dudes will ignore you that close to the border... they WONT. You will be stalked and hounded all night long with them driving very close to your vechicle and shinning a bright light into it all night long in an attempt to intimidate and blind you. That location is much too close to realistically consider a comfortable campout by any means. Hell i was being harassed while camped out on the highway after being terrorized by the camo dudes for being close to the border on the farmers road side.

Oddly the most comfortable place we camped out at was on Tikaboo Peak and another nearby mountain top the night prior. I would suggest the power lines lookout area or the mound of dirt between the mailbox and groomlake rd.

reply to post by hiii_98


I camped out at the parking area near the border.The dudes look, but they don't hassle. The other spot you are referring to is at

37°26'10.17"N 115°27'22.75"W
It's a good spot, though further from the action.

Gariac, thanks for the info, and I loved the story about Divine Ms. M! hahaha! This is the only reason we are renting an RV, For #1 and of course #2. #1 after drinking I don't mind under surveillance, but there is no way in hell I could go #2 out there knowing I am being watched. No. Way.

Thanks for the links, looks like a couple of the days there is a chance of a test flight. Damn moon. I had no idea their testing had anything to do with the moon. Good to know. I will crack out on reading for the next couple weeks. I don't think we will get bored, possibly stir crazy after the 3rd day, but we just can't rent a car and an RV. If there were more of us going then yes, but nobody we know is as nuts as us about going. We need the RV for the generator, shower and toilet. Normally I don't care about showering while camping, but if we are going to score with a couple of camo dudes.... just kidding! Great, they are probably reading this.. The door's open guys!

We thought about renting an SUV but it's not much more for the RV, after the deposit is hopefully returned. The generator sounded great for 5 days. Recharge cameras, laptop... I would like to get a scanner, but have NO idea how to use one nor understand what they are even talking about. I have binoculars, but they aren't that great. I checked earlier today to see what I could see. Hopefully I save enough money to buy some stuff.

Hiii_98, thanks for the info on the intimidation. I am easily intimidated, but I tend to hide rather than run away, so I think I will just go in the RV and hide under a blanket if they keep coming by. I'm not afraid of getting killed by a civilian next to the border of a base, my mother is though. I liked reading your story a couple months ago (i read it then, not sure when you posted it) about getting chased. That was on that road that goes to the left a little before the border right? Silly as it might sound to you professionals, I am scared to go exploring. What I need is some reassurance, need to be sure I WILL see the signs posted every 10 feet or so like I read about. We plan on going jogging in the morning along the border. What an experience!

About Tikaboo and the other good spots... I really don't want to waste gas, mileage and time looking for a place to camp. I realize we could see more from Tikaboo, but we don't have much for viewing far away, and we need to be at our RV. Also, the feeling that we are right on the border is what we are seeking. Not expecting to see UFOs, secret aircraft etc, just want to be near the base. We will watch movies and play games during the day, and star gaze at night. If we see anything, BONUS. Catching a glimpse of the bus would be cool too. They probably won't drive by us at that spot we want to camp at right? Don't they come from that road that goes off to the left?

Sorry so long, I am excited and have many, MANY questions to help make up for my crappy trip 2 months ago. I don't even count that visit. We would love to go to a campout in the future too, even though we are pretty anti-social. Not afraid to flash a camo dude though

P.S. Emsed, You drive, I cook. Fair? and... I get to be on top! That bunk over the driver seat I mean. Whatever it takes to get some "flashing orbs".

P.P.S. Hank told me a couple months ago, I think it was him on dreamlandresort, that there is no beer in Alamo? Or perhaps only at one location? We only need to stop after renting the RV for beer and firewood. Bringing our own food, since we have weird diets. Any suggestions on locating these essential items?

ThAnX (had to throw in some TXTmsgShrthnd)

Originally posted by Trisch

P.S. Emsed, You drive, I cook. Fair? and... I get to be on top! That bunk over the driver seat I mean. Whatever it takes to get some "flashing orbs".

I can operate a scanner too! Did I mention I am a licensed Paramedic also?

As titillating as the orbs sound, just being able to go on a trip like this would be exciting!

A buddy and I were going to meet in Vegas a couple years back and rent a car to drive out and poke around but he eventually backed out. Of course it was August and the thought of dying in the desert by myself wasn't appealing.

It sounds like you guys are going to have an amazing time and it also sounds like you are asking all the right questions. With this tenacious research I bet your trip turns out to be quite amazing!

reply to post by Trisch


You can get beer at the truck stop in Alamo. Not the Chevron, but the one further north, which I believe is an Exon. There is firewood at the R-Place in Ash Springs. There may be beer there as well, I don't recall. [I like the Mexican/South American beer, so I bring mine from out of town.] R-place has MoonPies.

Running the scanner isn't hard, but programming is another story. You can program the Pro-97 with a computer. I have a file for my pro-97, but need to remove all the unpublished stuff before making it public.

Other things to check out on the way:

There is a hot spring right across the road from the R-Place. Not the one that is boarded up, but one owned by the state. It is packed on weekends, but ok during the week. It is rarely empty.

If you park at Crystal Springs, the actual spring is a short walk from the lot. It is a significant water source in the middle of the desert.

visitarea51.com...
has some maps of places to visit.

you cant burn a fire in the desert its against Nevada state law from my understanding. So i dont know why you would need firewood. We lit a fire ontop of Tikaboo and i swear about 15 to 10 minutes after the entire base light up like a christmas tree and somesort of SUV was dispatched to check us out (we only heard it over our heads but for whatever reason could not see it). Also thanks for remembering my story about being chased. I'm not overly dramatic and i'm a total thrill seeker who likes to push the envelope. But i honestly felt my life was in trouble that night when they chased us extremely aggressively through the desert back to the highway. I sure as hell wouldnt want to be in some RV trying to back out or run anywhere if things got hot for some reason...suv saved my butt that night. Also i'm my opinion the camo dudes seem to try to heard or push you out if something interesting is going to be in the sky, so any aggressive activity on their part might be a sign that something will be happening soon.