Papoose Lake is a dry lake bed in Nevada near the Groom Lake facility known as Area 51, beside the Papoose Range within the same restricted tract of land. Its location places it inside one of the most tightly controlled areas in the United States. Rather than a public destination, it forms part of a secured desert landscape associated with secrecy and military activity. Geographically, it is one of the region’s stark, flat basins, but its setting within the Area 51 complex has given it a significance and visibility beyond that of an ordinary dry lake.