White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico - Trinity Atomic Test Site
- Address:
- White Sands Missile Range, NM [Show Map]
- Directions:
- Take Hwy 380 to about 12 miles east of San Antonio (New Mexico) or 50 miles west of Carizozo. Turn south onto Hwy 525. Drive five miles to the Stallion Gate, then another 17 miles to Trinity. Once you're within the missile range, there will be signs and the roads will be blocked off except for the road to Trinity.
- Admission:
- Free.
- Hours:
- Gate to Trinity site is open twice a year, on the first Sa in Apr and Oct, 8 am
Vacation and road trip planning caution: Visitor tips may not be verified. Call attractions for most current hours and admission. Send Updates.
White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico - Trinity Atomic Test Site The Trinity site is where the first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945. The site is open to the public twice a year, on the first Saturday in April and the first Saturday in October. Access is limited because the site is now a part of White Sands Missile Range. When you get to the White Sands Missile Range, you are expected to show a form of picture ID to military police. The military police direct where you are to go and where to park. They run a pretty tight ship.
Once you get to the site, a dark obelisk denotes the spot where the first atomic bomb was detonated. One stump remains of the steel tower from which the bomb was detonated. The rest of the structure was vaporized in the blast. There is also Fat Man bomb casing on display, and large samples of a mineral called Trinitite available for viewing. Trinitite is a green glass-like mineral that was created in the blast from the exposure of the surrounding sand to intense heat. On the ground there are smaller samples of the mineral. The material is slightly radioactive and property of the U.S. Government, so DO NOT try taking it home with you. There are many pictures on display, with the focus being on military personnel rather than the scientists involved with the Manhattan Project. You can also visit the McDonald ranch house, where the plutonium core was assembled and the scientists viewed the test. [AJ, 04/07/2005]
[RA: Trinity Test Site was the final stop on the original Atomic Tour in Roadside America.]Nearby Offbeat Places
- Smokey Bear Museum And Grave, Capitan, NM - 53 mi.
- Auto Parts Dinosaur, Alamogordo, NM - 56 mi.
- Galloping Horse Statues, Ruidoso Downs, NM - 55 mi.
- Grave of Ham the Astrochimp, Alamogordo, NM - 61 mi.
