Direct viewing of these sites is extremely difficult, because they are all in restricted military areas. However, there are a handful of vantage points and tours listed below that will let you see a good deal of the Range and the sites that lie inside it.

• Nellis Air Force Base
• DOE Nevada Test Site Tour

Nellis Air Force Base

Nellis Air Force Base is one of the most active in the country, hosting wargames for the US as well as other allied nations. These wargames frequently light up the night skies over Area 51 with dogfights, flares and afterburners. In addition to the many official tours available at the base, which is the home of the Thunderbirds (the Air Force's aerial display team), there is one particularly fun and easy-to-access vantage point which allows unobstructed views of the base and its flight operations.

A dirt parking lot sits at the bases's perimeter gate, just beyond the end of the dual runways. You can park and watch many different types of aircraft take off and land just above your head. It can be entertaining for several hours if you come prepared (with lawn chairs and drinks). Area 2, described in 'sites of interest', is clearly visible as it sprawls off to the East.


Take Las Vegas Boulevard North past the Nellis's Main Gates. (You can stay on Las Vegas all the way from the strip, but taking I-15 to Craig Rd., then East to Las Vegas is much faster.) Stay North until the fence that is running alongside the road veers East. There will be a telephone pole and a dirt turn-off. Follow the dirt turn-off back until you come to a wide dirt parking lot on the right next to the fence.

DOE Nevada Test Site Tour

The only way the public is allowed to see any portion of the Nevada Test Site firsthand is through a tour that the Department of Energy (DOE) offers. Unfortunately, they occur on a monthly basis so any long-distance trips will have to be planned around them if you want to visit the NTS.

DOE/NV - Nevada Test Site Tours is the official site of these tours, providing location, contact and security information. Below is an excerpt from the page:


Points of Interest
Mercury is the main base camp for the Test Site and the second largest community in Nye County.
Frenchman Flat, where on January 27, 1951, the first atmospheric nuclear test on the Nevada Test Site, ABLE, took place. Thirteen subsequent atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted at the site between 1951 and 1962.
Hazardous Material Spill Center is used by the chemical and petroleum industry, and government agencies to test spill dispersion, and mitigation and cleanup procedures.
Low Level Radioactive Waste Management Site for the disposal of radioactive waste from the dismantlement and cleanup of DOE and DoD�s weapons production complex.
Control Point 1 was the command post used for conducting nuclear tests. Today, it plays an important role supporting other Test Site missions.
News Nob was a viewpoint from which journalists and visiting dignitaries witnessed atmospheric tests.
Sedan was a cratering experiment as part of the Plowshare program - the peaceful uses of nuclear explosives. The 104-kiloton nuclear device explosion displaced about 12 million tons of earth, creating a crater 1,280 feet in diameter and 320 feet deep.

No cameras, tape recorders, or any note-taking devices are allowed. An Unofficial Test Site page gives a little more detail, with some pictures. Many people have taken the tour, so there are good descriptions of what the tour is actually like. Here are a small sample:


• A tour of the Test Site / Paul McGinnis
• Tour of The Test Site / DOE
  
  There are other ways to see the test site, since plenty has been published about it.
  
  
• Excerpt from the Center for Land Use's Publication about NTS
• Ghost of the Atom - NTS B&W Photography
• The Official NTS Home Page - With Images