The border of the restricted area by Groom Lake Road is only marked by signs on both sides of the road, and by orange posts. There is no barrier or guard shack there, so the Groom Lake facility can't be that secret after all, right? Wrong! The guard shack is hidden around a curve, about 0.85 miles down the road and just out of sight from outside the border. It is interesting to note that the guard shack was set up in 1978, six years before the surrounding land was officially withdrawn from public land.

There are actually two buildings. The first is a fairly large one-story building, about 30 by 40 feet, complete with a black and white barrier blocking the road. The barrier even has a string of red lights, so no one can 'accidentally' drive through at night. Yeah, like you really would... About 20 yards down the road is the old guard shack. It is much smaller and apparently no longer used.

Although the guard shack can not be seen from Groom Lake Road there are places on public land from which it is clearly visible. Most of these spots are very close to the border, which is not marked very well. We do not recommend anyone not familiar with the area to try to get to one of these spots. It is very easy to get lost and accidentally cross the line. Also, it is very likely that you run into the cammo dudes there. Therefore we have decided not to publish the exact location from where the photos below were taken.

However, there is one safe spot from where the Guard Shack can be seen: Right from Highway 375, near Hancock Summit. After you pass the Summit travelling north towards Rachel, stop near LN 36.7 (GPS coordinates: N 37°25'15.6", W 115°22'32.9") and look for Groom Lake Road crossing Tikaboo Valley. Near the point where it disappears in the hills (compass heading 237°) you can see the top of the Guard Shack in 16.4 miles distance. At night the two lights on top of the Guard Shack are easy to spot.