GTA 5: Blaine County [Location & Landmarks]

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Blaine County and what makes it such an iconic setting in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. We’ll delve into the county’s history, geography, and the memorable characters and missions that make it an essential part of the GTA V experience. So whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting, come with us as we explore the exciting world of Blaine County in GTA V.

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Key Takeaways

• Blaine County has one of the most beautiful and diverse landscapes in the game, containing everything from isolated deserts to mighty mountains and dense forests.
• Some of the top famous towns in Blaine County are the deserted Sandy Shores, the rural Grapeseed, and the beautiful Paleto Bay.
• Blaine County has a lot of beautiful attractions, with Mount Chiliad, Paleto Forest, and Alamo Sea being some of the top natural attractions.
• Some of the other attractions that you can visit in Blaine County are the chemical industry named the “Humane Labs and Research Facility,” the military base “Fort Zancudo,” and the “Altruist Camp” of the Altruist Cult.
• Blaine County is also home to many cool Easter Eggs in the game. It contains the destroyed house and a lot of evidence of the Infinity Murders of Merle Abrahams spread all over the county. Moreover, if you visit Mount Gordo at night, you can also see the famous Ghost of Jolene Cranley-Evans.
• Besides this, Mount Chiliad has a whole nuclear launch facility abandoned by the military. In The Doomsday Heist update for GTA Online, there is a mission inside this secret facility where we have to foil Avon Hertz’s plan to destroy humanity. Other than that, Blaine County also features multiple UFO-sighting locations.
• Several important Story Missions and GTA Online missions, including The Paleto Score, Humane Labs Raid, and Predator, are set in Blaine County.

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Location And Setting Of Blaine County

Blaine County is next to Los Santos County, just across the Southern San Andreas. The county is depicted as a sprawling and diverse region with various urban and rural environments, from the beautiful and picturesque town of Paleto Bay to the dusty, desert countryside of Grapeseed. It has several iconic landmarks like Mount Chiliad, the Paleto Forest, and the Sandy Shores airfield.

Blaine County is home to a lot of prominent places in the game, including one of the highest mountains, Mount Chiliad, and the most significant rural area in GTA 5. This county has two airports; McKenzie Airfield and Sandy Shores Airfield.

The county also has its radio station that can only be listened to inside the county called Blaine County Talk Radio. The fictional county of Blaine is based on real-life locations in Southern California and is meant to serve as a satirical commentary on American culture, society, and politics.

Main Towns In Blaine County

Blaine County is one of the areas in the Grand Theft Auto V’s Universe with one of the most diverse landscapes. The county features different regions that range from sandy deserts to lush forests, rolling hills to towering mountains, and coastal towns to sprawling suburbs.

Blaine County has everything from the rural town of Grapeseed to the deserted town of Sandy Shores and mountainous Paleto Bay. Here are some of the most famous towns in Blaine County:

Grapeseed

If you wish to cherish the proper rural experience in the world of GTA 5, then Blaine County has just the right thing for you in the form of Grapeseed. Right in the middle of Mount Chiliad, Sandy Shores and Mount Gordo is this beautiful little rural town.

According to the GTA developers, most of the food supplied to San Andreas is produced in this area. You will also see a lot of agricultural land and cattle in this area along with a lot of rural vehicles like tractors parked at different places. Moreover, a number of barns and sheds are also found in the area.

Just as you can expect, there are only a few small shops for essential utilities in the area. Moreover, this town also has a large storage facility that stores the grain produced here.

Talking about the crime here, many residents of this town are believed to be growing cannabis (weed plant) in their fields and also producing and distributing amphetamine. Also, you will not visit this town much during the Story Mode missions, but a number of heist missions feature this town.

This town appears to be inspired by Bakersfield in California while also having some similarities with Lamont and Grapevine. An interesting fact about Grapeseed is that in the morning, if you are in this area, you can clearly hear the crows of a rooster giving you a proper rural vibe.

Sandy Shores

Rockstar Games like to incorporate diversity, whether in their game characters or the game world they built. If they have added the Grand Senora Desert to the game, they have also made sure to add a town in the middle of the desert in the form of Sandy Shores. This town has a really dry atmosphere and is situated right beside the mighty Mount Chiliad.

According to the game story, this town when once used to be a beautiful holiday location in the heart of the desert just like Las Vegas. But the town is not in very great shape currently, with a lot of poverty, drugs, crime, and sex work going on in the town.

You can still see motels, trailer parks, and pools in significantly deteriorated situations all over the town especially along the Alamo Sea, which indicates the glory that this town once had.

Even the residents are primarily addicts and hillbillies, and very few significant businesses operate here including 24/7 and Ammu-Nation. Moreover, Trevor owns a meth lab in this town, and this town also has a small airfield called Sandy Shores Airfield.

This town in GTA’s Universe is believed to be inspired by California’s Desert Shores. Talking about the wildlife here, coyotes can be seen in large numbers here. Moreover, you can also sometimes see boars and deer.

Paleto Bay

It is probably one of the most picturesque locations in the whole GTA 5, nestled between rolling hills and the ocean, and is known for its beautiful views, quiet streets, and peaceful atmosphere. The monstrous and majestic Mount Chiliad is right in front of Paleto Bay and offers one of the best views to witness the might of this beautiful mountain.

There are also a lot of excellent activities that you can indulge in Paleto Bay. You can parachute from the mountaintop to Paleto Bay Beach while having a beautiful view of the town from above. Moreover, you can go to the Paleto Bay Pier and enjoy swimming, boat ride, and fishing. Paleto Bay is also home to a lot of cool Easter Eggs, including a Bigfoot monster in Paleto Forest and horrifying shrieks at night in the forest that can cause panic to the character.

This town also has a small beach, a great place to relax, swim, and sunbathe. The beach is surrounded by cliffs and rock formations, which offer stunning views of the surrounding landscape and the ocean beyond.

This town has the most similarity with the actual city of Morro Bay in California. Of all the missions that are set in Blaine County, most are set in Paleto Bay.

Paleto Bay is a really thriving town when it comes to business activities, with a lot of famous business outlets on Paleto Boulevard and Duluoz Avenue, which are the favorite roads in Paleto Bay. Moreover, Paleto Bay has a small police department and a beautiful sheriff’s office. All of this is enough to say that Paleto Bay is one of the most significant towns in the whole of GTA 5 and can be called the “pride of Blaine County.”

Famous Attractions In Blaine County

Blaine County has a genuinely exhilarating landscape and some of the most diverse and beautiful locations in the entire GTA 5 world. From mighty mountains to beautiful lakes and coniferous forests to military camps and cult settlements, Blaine County in GTA 5 has a lot of attractions that can easily make the visitor’s jaws drop.

Rockstar Games has set the bar high for all the other game developers with their world-building in GTA 5. And just a single look at these places will make you believe in the authenticity of this statement. So here are some of the top famous attractions that you can visit in Blaine County:

Mount Chiliad

Mount Chiliad is one of the most beautiful attractions in Blaine County and the whole of GTA 5’s world. GTA 5 only has three mountains that are given a name and Mount Chiliad is one of them, with the others being Josiah and Gordo. This mountain will most likely be a replica of the real-life peak of Mount San Jacinto. And is the largest mountain in the world of GTA 5.

Moreover, Mount Chiliad is also home to some of the coolest Easter Eggs in the game. It has a nuclear launch facility hidden inside it. Players get to visit this secret facility during a mission in The Doomsday Heist, which is set inside the facility. Moreover, after completing 100% of the story mode, you can also see a UFO hovering over the mountain at night.

Alamo Sea

This beautiful salt lake called the Alamo Sea is located just to the south of Mount Chiliad in Blaine County. According to the Rockstar Games, it is based on real-life California’s Salton Sea. The lake water is not very clean, nor is there much fish in the lake’s water. You can find the wreckage of a plane in the Western part of the Alamo Sea.

If you are into playing the hobbyand pastime missions in GTA 5, then some of the triathlon missions are also set in the Alamo Sea where you have to swim in the lake. You can also hear news about the settlement of hipsters around the Alamo Sea often on the radio in GTA 5.

Paleto Forest

A beautiful forest full of coniferous trees called the Paleto Forest is located beside the majestic Mount Chiliad. This forest is one of the main attractions of Blaine County and is anticipated to have been influenced by the real-life San Bernardino National Forest. It is a proper tourist location having a cable car that takes you to the top of Mount Chiliad, Lodges, Hiking Trails, and Rental Dirt Bikes.

Players can explore the Paleto Forest by foot, vehicle, or aircraft. There are various activities and missions, such as races and hunting. The forest also contains several hidden locations, including a military base, a sawmill, and an old bomb shelter.

In addition to its use as a setting for various missions and activities, Paleto Forest is also a popular location for players to engage in online multiplayer activities, such as player-versus-player combat.

Besides being a really serene and beautiful place you must visit if you want to go away from the city’s busy life, Paleto Forest is also home to many cool easter eggs. You can find a monster that looks just like Bigfoot in Paleto Forest, which later, in a story mission, turns out to be a man dressed as a monster. Moreover, you can sometimes hear horrifying shrieks and sounds at night.

We have also covered a detailed guide on Paleto Bay, discussing everything there is to know about this beautiful town in GTA 5. You can check it out at GTA V Paleto Bay.

Fort Zancudo

This place holds great significance in the world of GTA 5 because it is the only military base available in the game. It gets this name because it is situated along the Zancudo River, and on one side is Mount Josiah in Blaine County, which is one of the three mountains in GTA 5 which are given a name.

It is a joint military base where Marines, US Army, and US Air Force operate. This military base appears to resemble the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Fort Zancudo is one of the most secure places in the game and has the most surveillance. It is protected by patrolling tanks and jets flying above it.

It is a wholly restricted area for the players, and even approaching the area will be met with heavy resistance from the army. P-996 LAZER jets will attack you if you approach from above. Moreover, military personnel will fire you heavily if you get closer to the base from the ground.

Sandy Shores Airfield

The Sandy Shores Airfield is one of the few private airports featured in GTA 5 that is actually the property of the protagonist Trevor Phillips. It is located in the middle of the Grand Senora Desert in Blaine County.

Besides having a small hangar, it has three runways for the planes to land and take off. At the start of Story Mode, this airfield is controlled by the Lost MC gang, but later on, we take it into our possession.

The Sandy Shores Airfield is an essential location in GTA 5, and multiple missions from Story Mode and GTA Online DLCs are set in this location.

Altruist Camp

Rockstar Games has tried to be as detailed as possible when it comes to world-building, either in the Grand Theft Auto series or the Red Dead Redemption series. In GTA 5, they have tried to incorporate characters and people from all the different communities and walks of life.

You would be surprised to know that even a cult with the name Altruist Cult has been featured in GTA 5. This Altruist Cult is stationed in the Wilderness of Mount Chiliad in Blaine County.

As you can expect from a cult, this camp is located entirely away from any town and in the middle of complete wilderness. And the overall atmosphere of the area is creepy, constituting broken wooden houses. Of our three protagonists, Trevor Phillips is affiliated with the Altruist Cult, which breaks when they betray him, and Trevor kills all of them.

Humane Labs And Research Facility

If you thought that Rockstar Games forgot to add some industries in the vast world of GTA 5, you are wrong. Because we have the Humane Labs and Research Facility, a large chemical industry right in the heart of Blaine County, this facility has been owned by multiple entities in the past, according to the game story, including Maxim Rashkovsky and Merryweather Security.

Under the guise of being a perfume factory, the Humane Labs and Research facility are believed to be secretly making biological weapons.

Multiple story missions have been set inside this facility, and just like Fort Zancudo, it is entirely restricted for the players to visit. Just entering this facility will give you a wanted level of up to 4 stars, clearly indicating that it is a high-security area and something secret is happening inside that they don’t want to disclose to the public.

Easter Eggs In Blaine County

Rockstar Games has not left any stone unturned to spice us the gaming experience for all kinds of players with GTA 5, and they have tried to make it as close to perfection as they could. No matter what kind of games you like, you will indeed find something that will catch your attention in GTA 5. For all the Easter Egg hunters out there, GTA 5 features dozens and dozens of cool interesting easter eggs based on everything from real-life events to movie, TV, and other pop culture references.

You can find these Easter Eggs all over the map of GTA 5. Blaine County is also home to a lot of cool easter eggs. Here are some of the most famous Easter Eggs that you can find here:

Famous Ghost Of Mount Gordo

This easter egg is probably one of the most famous ones in GTA V. Where you can find a ghost of a female if you visit the top of Mount Gordo at night near 11 and 12. GTA 5 contains a lot of myths about aliens, ghosts, and UFOs. But it is one of the myths proven by the evidence found in the game. The evidence suggests that this ghost is of Jolene Cranley-Evans, who was the wife of  Jock Cranley, a famous actor.

You can learn more about our ghost of Mount Gordo in the GTA 5 guide.

The story of Jolene’s murder goes as she argues with Jock Cranley, who wants to leave Blaine County and pursue his acting dreams. But Jolene had strong feelings about his town and didn’t want to leave it.

So, one day when she was out for a walk with Jock near the El Gordo lighthouse, he pushed her down the cliff and murdered her. Jock got arrested for suspicion of murder but was released without any charge by the court due to lack of evidence.

Now every night, the ghost of Jolene appears on Mount Gordo at night. Moreover, the screams of the spirit can also be heard in the area past ten at night. And if you go near the end of the cliff where Jock murdered Jolene, you will see the name “Jock” written in blood, clearly showing that Jolene wants revenge. It is one of the spookiest and scariest things you can witness in GTA Online.

Merle Abrahams – The Serial Killer

Merle Abrahams was a serial killer who lived in Sandy Shores in Blaine County. The story goes on like this he went psycho, and in December 1999, he murdered eight people who were jogging in the area and drowned their bodies in water to hide them.

Because the number eight resembles “infinity,” Merle Abrahams became famous as the “Infinity Killer.”

The whole area of Sandy Shores is filled with evidence of the story of Merle Abrahams. Little is known about the Infinity Killer’s background, but multiple hints about him can be found throughout the game, especially in Blaine County.

Merle was arrested and sent to the Bolingbroke Penitentiary, where you can find a statement on a wall pointing toward the murder of eight people. Moreover, in Sandy Shores, there is a destroyed house where a newspaper clipping stating this tragic incident has been nailed.

You can also find Merle’s House in Sandy Shores, which appears to have been burnt by the neighbors. Inside the house, you can find multiple clues strongly suggesting the murder of 8 people.

Outside the house, you can also find an Anti-Merle statement painted on the wall. Moreover, in the surrounding area, you can find poems about Merle’s Murders painted on large rocks.

If you explore the small islands in the vicinity of Mount Chiliad, you will find precisely eight bodies at a location in the ocean drowned in water. These eight bodies are anticipated to be the victims of the Infinity Killer.

Hidden Launch Facility Near Mount Chiliad

In all its might, Mount Chiliad in Blaine County is one of the most scenic and serene places in GTA 5. But it also hides a lot of secrets inside it. It holds such a big secret that it has a hidden launch facility. And the best part is that this nuclear facility is not empty but instead has an extensive missile hidden in the mountains.

This facility was built in the cold-war era and was shut down. Avon Hertz from The Doomsday Heist reopens this facility with a plan to launch a nuclear attack and destroy humanity. We visit the facility during The Doomsday Heist to stop Avon Hertz’s evil plans and avert the missile launch. Places like these show the beauty of GTA 5 and the incredible detail with which this game has been developed.

Secret Crashed UFO Location

GTA 5 contains multiple Easter Eggs related to UFOs and aliens that can be found all over the map. Most of them become visible only after 100% completion of the game. In Blaine County, you can find a crashed UFO site. The military surrounds this site to protect it. Moreover, in the Sandy Shores area, you can find a hippie camp where you can find alien shapes and symbols.

If you are in this area, take a helicopter and fly as high as possible. After some time, you will see a UFO floating in the sky named the “Sandy Shores UFO.”

Notable Story Missions Set In Blaine County

Blaine County is an important location in GTA 5 regarding missions. Multiple story mode missions and many DLC missions are set in the areas of Blaine County. Here are some of the main missions that are staged in Blaine County:

The Paleto Score

It is one of the very few GTA 5 missions in which all three protagonists in the game work together to complete some task. It takes place in Paleto Bay, where players must rob a bank.

Afterward, the players engage in combat with police, where we take them down. Moreover, we also confront the military and fight them before escaping on a train. Before starting this mission, the player must complete a side mission in the Grand Senora Desert.

Predator

Again it is one of the missions completed by collaborating with all three protagonists. We constantly switch characters from Michael to Trevor to Franklin during this mission. In this mission, first, we follow the O’Neil brothers on the Great Ocean Highway.

But during the chase, their car goes off-road and crashes. Upon investigation, we know they have disappeared into the woods.  So then we hunt to kill all of the brothers.

The Humane Labs Raid

The Humane Labs Raid is the 3rd Heist in GTA Online’s DLC update “Heists Update.” It is a crew mission where a Pilot, a Gunner, and a Ground Team perform different tasks to raid the Humane Labs in Blaine County.

The Nervous Ron

This mission is given to the player by a character in the game named Ron Jakowski. In this mission, The Lost MC ransacks Trevor’s trailer, and he plans revenge on them along with Ron.

If you like exploring the vast world of GTA V and are looking for your next stop after Blaine County, then make sure to head over to Two Hoots Falls. It is one of the most scenic places in GTA 5 that offers you a majestic view of Mount Chiliad. Moreover, it is also home to some of the most interesting Easter Eggs in the game. To know all about another location, visit our guide Two Hoot Falls In GTA V.