Extraterrestrial Highway and Nevada ghost towns
North from Las Vegas past Area 51 on the Extraterrestrial Highway, then south through old mining boomtowns to the gateway of Death Valley.
- Distance
- 570 km (354 mi)
- Driving
- 6 h 20 min
- Suggested days
- 3
- Stops
- 8
- States
- NV
- Updated
- May 31, 2026
At a glance: 3-day road trip of about 570 km (354 mi) with 8 stops, from Las Vegas to Beatty. About 6 h 20 min of driving in total.
Route description
Leave Las Vegas on I-15 and US-93 north through Joshua trees to Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, where springs feed lakes and cottonwoods. Fill up in nearby Alamo: services are very sparse from here to Tonopah.
NV-375, officially named the Extraterrestrial Highway, crosses empty valleys past the secretive Area 51. Rachel, a handful of trailers with an alien-themed café, is the only settlement. Do not follow any dirt road toward the base; the boundary is guarded.
The highway joins US-6 west to Tonopah, a silver boom town from 1900 with a historic mining park and some of the darkest skies in the country. US-95 then runs south to Goldfield, a half-empty gold town whose Car Forest has dozens of painted cars stuck nose-first in the desert.
Further south, just before Beatty, the ruins of Rhyolite stand beside the ghostly plaster figures of the Goldwell Open Air Museum. Beatty is the gateway to Death Valley. The route is easy for RVs, but carry extra water and watch for cattle on the open range.
Stop-by-stop itinerary
In driving order. Distances are estimates between consecutive stops.
- 1Start
Las Vegas
NV - 2151 km
Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge
NatureAlamo, NVSpring-fed lakes and cottonwoods in the middle of the desert along US-93, busy with waterbirds. A good picnic stop before the empty miles ahead.
- 381 km
Rachel
NV - 4167 km
Tonopah Historic Mining Park
HistoryTonopah, NVHeadframes, hoist houses and a viewing platform over an old stope on the site of the 1900 silver strike that founded Tonopah.
- 547 km
International Car Forest of the Last Church
OdditiesGoldfield, NVDozens of old cars, buses and trucks planted nose-down in the desert and covered in graffiti. Reached on a short dirt road; leave nothing behind.
- 61 km
Goldfield
NV - 7116 km
Rhyolite ghost town
HistoryBeatty, NVThe ruins of a 1900s gold boom town, including a house built from bottles, next to the ghostly sculptures of the Goldwell Open Air Museum.
- 87 km
Beatty
NV
