From Valles Caldera, we headed back down to Los Alamos and a much-needed stop for gas. I actually visited Los Alamos for the first time as a kid on a road trip through New Mexico. I had no idea what the Manhattan Project was back in 1994 (or so), but I remember liking the town and the museum. So it was a cool chance to revisit the Los Alamos Manhattan Project National Historic Park. Los Alamos was one of the three sites involved in the Manhattan Project, and a lot of atomic bomb testing took place because of this lab. Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer were among the thousands who lived and worked here.
Address and Location
One very important thing: The Los Alamos National Laboratory is still an active research facility and has pretty extensive security. You can reach the town from several directions, and you can also drive to some of the more satellite sites associated with the Manhattan Project. If you drive through any checkpoint, be prepared to show photo IDs for any adults in the car.
You’ll find the Los Alamos Visitor’s Center for the Manhattan Project National Historic Park at 475 20th Street in Los Alamos, New Mexico. You can find parking in the lot next to the park and street parking within easy walking distance. The Visitor’s Center staff can give you directions to the other sites in the area that you will drive to.
Cost
Exploring the Los Alamos site is free.
What to Do
Several parts of the park were still closed in 2021 due to COVID restrictions. Check the park website first for the current operating status.
Start off at the Visitor’s Center. You’ll learn some good information about the history of the Manhattan Project and why Los Alamos became a major center in the nuclear race. You can also find a photo map of the original site and get a good idea of what the community and area looked like in the 1940s. In normal times, you can explore the Bradbury Science Museum a few blocks away.
Then head out for a walking tour. I would highly recommend strolling around Ashley Pond. We visited over Memorial Day weekend in late May, and all of the flowers and plants were in bloom. It’s a beautiful, quiet park and a peaceful place to remember what the Manhattan Project was created to achieve. We crossed Central Drive and strolled down Bathtub Row. Here, you’ll find the homes that the leading scientists lived in during the years in Los Alamos. Not all of the important sites from the 1940s exist. Be sure to stop and read the interpretive signs and view the pictures from that era.
You’ll also see some pre-Manhattan Project sites. One is the remains of a cabin owned by an early Mexican farming family who settled in the area. Next to that, you’ll find the foundations of an Ancestral Pueblo structure that predates European settlement. This was another interesting contrast between the early history of people living in Los Alamos surrounded by the most cutting edge technology at the time.
New Mexico National Park Service sites: Aztec Ruins National Monument | White Sands National Park | Fort Union National Historic Site | Pecos National Historic Park | Valles Caldera National Monument | Bandelier National Monument | Carlsbad Caverns National Park | Gila Cliffs National Historic Site
