Parachute, Colorado: Rulison Nuclear Blast Site
RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
- Address:
- Unnamed Rd, Parachute, CO
- Directions:
- I-70 exit 75. Drive south on CO-215/N. Battlement Pkwy for a little over half-mile, then turn right onto W. Battlement Pkwy. Drive 1.5 miles. Turn right onto Stone Quarry Rd. Drive a quarter-mile. Turn left onto Underwood Lane/CO-302, which becomes gravel, about seven miles to the Blast Site.
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Could nuclear bombs be used to dig for natural gas deposits? America's answer in the late 1960s: let's find out!
Roadsideamerica.com Report...Visitor Tips and News About Rulison Nuclear Blast Site
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Site is no longer accessible by CR 338, which is now private, or by CR 310 (also private), but can be accessed by CR 302/Underwood Lane off of Stone Quarry Road. Plaque is behind fence, but can still mostly be read. A beautiful drive back to the site!
[Jennifer Christianson, 10/13/2020]
The site turned 50 in 2019 and the landowners are working with the DOE to place informational stands at the site in the near future. For now there is only a plaque over the wellhead which is behind a fence on private property. You can see the plaque, but not read it, from the road. The property owner was there when I visited and I was invited to get a closer look so my pictures are on the up-and-up. Future visitors should not trespass.
[Nick S., 10/21/2019]Drove here found a cute guy but no yellow sign. The plaque was still there.
[Disneybabe, 07/31/2015]
While the actual detonation site is gated, it is still easily visible from the road and may be photographed. I visited in July 2012. The plaque reads: PROJECT RULISON NUCLEAR EXPLOSION EMPLACEMENT WELL... Site of the second nuclear gas stimulation experiment in the United States. One 43 kiloton nuclear explosive was detonated in this well, 8,426 feet below the surface on September 10, 1969. No evacuation, drilling, and/or removal of subsurface materials below a depth of 6,000 feet is permitted....
[Outspoken1, 03/07/2014]Page of 2 [Next 1 items]
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