Nevada State Route 375 is the highway officially nicknamed the “Extraterrestrial Highway.”
The 98-mile route runs through remote south-central Nevada, from State Route 318 near Crystal Springs to U.S. Route 6 at Warm Springs. Much of it parallels the northern edge of the Nellis Air Force Range, placing it near the restricted region associated with Area 51 and Groom Lake.
Nevada officially gave the highway its extraterrestrial name in 1996. The designation was a tourism idea built around reports of UFO sightings, secret military facilities and the area’s strikingly empty desert landscape. Rachel, a small community near the highway’s midpoint, became a popular stop for alien-themed tourism.
The route is sometimes mistaken for a federal highway because of its fame, but it is a Nevada state route. The UFO stories are reported claims and cultural lore, not proof that extraterrestrial spacecraft have been observed there. Area 51 itself is a restricted military facility, not a roadside attraction open to visitors.