As Good As Being There

Hoover Dam - Black Canyon, border betwwen Arizon and nevada

Hoover Dam is a concrete gravity-arch dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between Arizona and Nevada. The dam, located 48 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Las Vegas, is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its construction, first as Secretary of Commerce and then later as President of the United States. Hoover Dam was built by Six Companies, Inc., under Frank Crowe. Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1936, over two years ahead of schedule.

• Construction period: April 20, 1931 - March 1, 1936
• Construction cost: $165 million
• Dam Height: 726.4 ft (221.4 m), 2nd highest dam in the United States.
• Dam Thickness: 660 ft (200 m) at its base; 45 ft (15 m) thick at its crest.
• Concrete: 4.36 million yd³ (3.33 million m³)
• Traffic across the dam: 13,000 to 16,000 people each day, according to the Federal Highway Administration
• Lake Mead surface area: 247 square miles (640 km²), backing up 110 miles (177 km) behind the dam.
• Lake Mead water volume: approximately 46,000,000,000 yd³ (35.2 km³), or 28.5 million acre-feet.
• With 8 to 10 million visitors each year, including visitors to Hoover Dam but not all traffic across the dam, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area is the 5th busiest U.S. national park. 

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Area 51 - Lincoln county, NV

Area 51 is a parcel of U.S. military-controlled land in southern Nevada, apparently containing a secret aircraft testing facility. It is also known as Watertown, Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, The Farm, The Box, and The Directorate for Development Plans Area, and simply Groom Lake.

Area 51 is a section of land of approximately 60 sq. mi.  in Lincoln County, Nevada, USA.

The U.S. Government does not explicitly acknowledge the existence of the Groom Lake facility, nor does it deny it. Unlike much of the Nellis range, the area surrounding the lake is permanently off-limits both to civilian and normal military air traffic.  The base does not appear on US government maps; the USGS topological map for the area only shows the long-disused Groom Mine, and the civil aviation chart for Nevada shows a large restricted area, but defines it as part of the Nellis restricted airspace.

The tiny town of Rachel, Nevada (the nearest settlement to the base) enjoys minor celebrity status as being "the official home of Area 51". Located three hours from Las Vegas by car, Rachel receives a modest number of visitors year-round, and several small businesses offer food and lodging to visitors, together with aerospace and "alien" themed merchandising. The visitor numbers are swelled yearly with aviation enthusiasts hoping to catch a glimpse of the Red Flag exercises. A small museum sells maps, photographs, badges, and other Area 51 material, and a local inn proudly displays a time capsule received from the production crew of Independence Day movie.

Satellite view - via Google Maps
Pictures - via Google Images
In the News - via Google News
Hotels and Motels - via Google Local
Official website