China Lake is nestled in the quiet Indian Wells Valley at the south eastern foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. China Lake is the premier land range and weapons development laboratory for the Department of the Navy. It is about two and a half hours north of Los Angeles. The weapons division at China Lake is hosted by the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS).

The Indian Wells Valley is south of two prominent geologic extremes in the continental United States, Mount Whitney, the highest point (14,497 ft. above sea level) and Badwater, the lowest point (282 ft. below Sea level).