1. Nellis Live Load Area

75% of the live ordnance expended by the Air Force on continental American soil is dropped on the Nellis Range Complex. At the east side of the Nellis Air Force Base in North Las Vegas is the "live load area," where all of these munitions are loaded onto aircraft that fly out over the Range.
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2. Range 63

Range 63 A is a series of targets and ground forces training sites with tanks, firing ranges, and small support facilities, accessed by a dirt road from the main highway. It is near the security forces training area called "Terrortown", and the live fire demonstration areas where bombing can be watched from the public highway, US 95.
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3. EC South Access Road

The access road to the EC South area, south of Tolicha Peak, is rarely used, and is generally locked at a cattleguard located on the perimeter. EC South is a stripped down electronic warfare range, and is used for training and tactics related to electronic countermeasure "anti-radiation" missiles. Access to this range is from other locations inside the Range.
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4. Tolicha Peak Gate

The gate to the Tolicha Peak area is manned 24 hours a day, and the gate is rarely closed. The facilities around Tolicha Peak have a number of functions, some which are clear and others that are not discussed. In addition to the electronic warfare training infrastructure are other R&D elements reportedly managed by Lockheed Martin. This gate is the main entrance to these facilities, and traffic is fairly heavy during commuting times, with many white jeep Cherokees with government license plates coming and going.
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5. Stonewall Spring

Access within the Range is permitted on a dirt road that leads to Stonewall Spring, on the north flank of Stonewall Mountain, on the west side of the Range. A saw-toothed indent into the otherwise north-south running perimeter allows hunters to access a Bighorn Sheep hunting area. The road passes through the range perimeter only briefly.
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6. Mud Lake

This fence intersection, in the middle of dry Mud Lake, delineates the exact northwest corner of the Nellis Range.
(Walt Cotten photo

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7. Tonopah Test Range Entrance

The main entrance to the Tonopah Test Range, an elaborately instrumented weapons testing range operated by the Department of Energy and the Air Force, has a guardbooth set back from the perimeter, and manned 24 hours a day. The actual perimeter line is indicated by a faded white line running diagonally across the pavement.
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8. Gate 73

Gate 73, the Cedar Pass entrance to the Tonopah Electronic Combat Range and the Tonopah Test Range, is manned during normal operating hours. The county road to this gate has recently been paved, suggesting an increase in activity on this part of the Range.
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9. Area 51 Perimeter

The Groom Lake Road cuts across the Tickaboo Valley from Highway 375 and leads 13 miles to the perimeter, and then over a hill and into Area 51. The perimeter at this point cuts across the road diagonally, and is marked with small metal posts in the brush. The area is not fenced or gated, but
one sign in the cluster warns that the use of deadly force is authorized.
A manned guard house and gate lie out of public view half a mile further down the road.
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10. Road Sensors

Along with cameras, and roving security patrols in white Jeep Cherokees, a network of hidden road sensors help keep an eye on visitors in the Tickaboo valley. The self-contained transmitters detect vehicular traffic on public land outside Area 51.
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11. Desert National Wildlife Refuge

This sign is along a public dirt road that skirts the southern edge of the Nellis Range, occasionally touching the range perimeter. Nearly all of the southern ranges of the Nellis Range Complex are also part of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. The vast refuge (1,588,000 acres) was established by president Roosevelt in 1936 to preserve the habitat and hunting stock of the bighorn sheep. The shared portion of the refuge (844,000 acres) is managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Air Force.
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1. Luxor Casino

The bus departed the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas, due to the proximity to some of the Las Vegas area sites on the tour.
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2. Peace Camp

After seeing some Nellis Range related sites in Las Vegas, the bus headed up Highway 95, passing by sites in the southern ranges. The tour then stopped at Peace Camp, outside of the Nevada Test Site, where Corbin Harney, the spiritual leader of the Western Shoshone Nation addressed the group. The bus then headed into the Test Site, guided by Nancy Harkess of the Department of Energy, for a brief visit at the town of Mercury and the famed Frenchman Flat.
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3. Rhyolite

Lunch on day one was had at the ruins of Rhyolite, a ghost town outside of Beatty, Nevada, still as scenic as when it was photographed by Ansel Adams.
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4. Tolicha Peak Electronic Warfare Center

After being flagged through to turn around inside the perimeter inside the Tolicha Peak Electronic Warfare Range gate, the bus became stuck in a ditch. During the unexpected two hour visit at the Tolicha Peak perimeter guard house, writer and military aviation expert Agent X described the possible function of the mysterious and secretive facility, and eloquently locuted on other aspects of electronic warfare. Meanwhile the guards offered coffee, phone, and restrooms, and a large tarantula walked by.
CLUI photo by Walt Cotten

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5. Goldfield

The group stopped at the Community Center in the town of Goldfield, where a version of the Nellis exhibit was on display, and cocktails were served. CLUI photo by Lize Mogel

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6. Tonopah

The group stayed the night at the Station House resort in Tonopah, the half-way point on the two-day tour. Dinner in the uniquely decorated SportsmanÕs Lounge was followed by slide presentations by civilian Range authorities Phil Patton and Agent X.
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7. Springs

On day two, after visiting the edge of the Tonopah Test Range, and before embarking on the Extraterrestrial Highway portion of the tour, the group took a break at an abandoned warm springs resort.
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8. Phil Patton

Range experts leading the group included Phil Patton, New York Times writer and author of Dreamland, a recent book on Groom Lake, secret aircraft programs, and the alien cult of Area 51.
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9. Groom Lake Road

At the famous Groom Lake Road, the bus stopped within a few hundred yards of the perimeter, and the group proceeded on foot to the edge of the Range.
CLUI photo by Lize Mogel

The group posed for a photo at the perimeter of Area 51, under the watchful eye of the security forces (in white Jeep on hill above group).
At one point the security guard addressed the group on a loudspeaker, saying "I hope you didn't pay too much for this tour"
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