View of Guard Shack
In order to see the Guard Shack, you have to climb to the top of Hawkeye Hill–and this place is not for the casual traveler, or the faint of heart. Though only feet from the border, this tent-camping site is one of the favorite places for Area 51 border security (known as the cammo dudes) to sit and observe people arriving at the front gates. While the road that security vehicles use to get to this spot is well within the base, the actual vantage point is on public land, and technically, you can camp here–though you do so at your own risk.
From this point, you can easily see the roads beyond the front gates, and also the guard shack itself–located about a mile past the warning signs.
Camping here at night, you will attract a lot of attention, and you will likely make the border security both very angry and very nervous. And because you are so close to the border, as in, you can reach out and touch it with your hand, it is crucial that you are very careful in getting to this location. Any false step over the border–which is not clearly marked–and you will be held at gun point and find your lodging in the Lincoln County sheriff’s department instead of camping on a hill.
Directions: Take Hwy 375 to Lincoln County mile marker 34.6, where an unmarked-well-maintained-dirt road intersects with the Highway (37° 24.892′ N, 115° 24.586′ W).
If you are using a GPS this road may be marked “Groom Lake Road” or simply “51 Road”. In either case, follow the road about 13 miles until you reach the warning signs at the front gates of Area 51. If you are standing at the warning signs, the immediate hill to your left will have cameras and other surveillance equipment on it, and most of this hill will be beyond the border.
Guardshack Hill will be the second hill to your left.
If you have trouble finding the hill, simply follow the border, marked with orange posts every 50 yards, until you get to a vantage point where you can see the Guard shack.
IMPORTANT: Always keep at least two posts in your field of vision, to make sure that you do not cross the border, and never ever climb around the border at night–it is way to dark to see what your doing, and chances are great that you will end up in jail.
In addition, you should not park your car here over night, as something might happen to it. There is a good place for parking about a mile-and-a-half before the warning signs: take the fork to the right and park in the gravel below campfire hill.
Note: This is not an official camping location, and you will not likely find reference to this place anywhere else. The administrators of this site have been to this spot, and found it to be an excellent, albeit nerve-racking, place for camping out. This spot was named “Guardshack Hill” because of its view, and proximity, to the Guard Shack that lies about a mile past the famous warning signs.
GPS Location: 37° 21.09606869728708 N, 115° 36.383056640625 W
Accessibility: Any two-wheel-drive vehicle in good condition should be able to make it to the warning signs. But once here you will have to hike up to this location, carrying your camping gear, and anything else you would need for a night’s stay. It is also recommended that you do not park your car at the base of the hill, instead, park it 1.7 miles before the warning signs, at the base of campfire hill.
Amenities: Nothing, and once it gets dark, you will not want to move from this location.
Distance from Area 51: 0 Miles
Distance from Rachel: 33 Miles
Distance from Ash Springs: 29 Miles
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