White Mountain Summit Lab Hut, California

A building on the summit of White Mountain Peak, in California, at 14,252 feet, has a restricted access road to it, that is likely the highest road in the USA. The hut is a two room stone building, built in 1955, with two bunk beds and solar power, and is used for high altitude physiology, astronomy, cosmic radiation studies, and other high altitude research. It is part of the University of California’s White Mountain Research Center’s Barcroft Station, based five miles away at 12,740 feet in elevation. By comparison, the highest point in the Lower 48 is Mount Whitney, 14,505 feet, in the Sierra, across the valley from the White Mountains. Colorado’s Mount Evans, at 14,120 feet, has a paved road to its summit, and is the highest paved road in the nation.