In The Desert
Back to
Back to Cathedral Gorge State Park
This trip is in the Southeast of Nevada and is a good one day trip if your in Las Vegas looking for something to see during the day. Rachel, Nevada is where the fame for Area 51 came from
Going up I - 15 North out of Las Vegas turn onto Rt. 93 going Northwest till you see this sign. Turn onto Rt. 375.
As soon as you turn onto Rt. 375 you'll see this sign. The Extraterrestrial Highway. As you can tell this has been visited by a lot of kooks and star trek fans. People interested in Area 51 should see the town of Rachel.
This is a long lonely road through the Nevada Desert. So go prepared, not many cars were here when we went and it's quite a ways up to Rachel. Worth the trip though.
One of the first things you'll see in Rachel is the LITTLE A'LE'INN. This place has been on TV and has an interesting backgound. The owners and patrons love to talk to strangers so don't hesitate to strike up a conversation. They had drinks and food when we were there.
Once inside you can be introduced to the Aliens! Or just sit and have lunch with them. They are non-hostile! This place is a blast and has enough souveniers for anyone's taste.
Here's Linda checking out the mailboxes at the Steve Medlin Ranch entrance. Notice the mailbox for Alien mail? This is also the back entrance to the Area 51 base as seen on TV. Proceed with extreme caution!
Rachel, NevadaGoogle Map
This is an active Maps.google Satellite Map. You can zoom / out and change the formats to Map or Terrain; drag the map to scroll. Try it! Shown here is Cathedral State Park.
Go back to Rt. 93 and proceed East on it till you get to Bullionville. This is the entrance to Cathedral Gorge State Park. Once you turn into the park you'll see some of the unique features here. Here's one of the mud hills that's been eroded over time.
Here's another look at the hills here, More below. Stay with us now as this isn't the only neat feature here.
Here's a few more views of the eroded hills. Linda is standing next to one for a size comparison. The spire in the center below is at least 4 stories high and stands by itself in a flat area in the hills.
Here's one of the many entrances into the slot canyons that exist here along the edge of the hills. These have been eroded out of these mud hills and really worth the time spent to walk to them.
Once inside the slots your in for a real treat! This is one of the neatest slot canyons we've ever seen, because of the straight walls that run to the top. Linda again for size.
Coming back out of the slots you'll get more beautiful views of some of the surrounding areas. You can clearly see where the water has gone that has helped to shape these hills.
There really is a diversity of landscapes here. Open desert plains, and eroded hills make up most of this area. Don't miss this Park or write it off because it's not well known. It's worth the trip to see this.
Have fun --------
Cathedral Gorge is an easy park to get to and it's an easy walk to see most of the neat rock formations and slot canyons. Worth seeing.
Content including photographs are Copyright © 2012 - Present - Don & Linda Gilmore |