White Sands Missile Range Opens Trinity Site To The Public This Weekend

From The Albuquerque Journal

White Sands Missile Range says the Trinity Site will host an open house from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, inviting guests to visit the site where the first atomic bomb was tested.

No reservation is required for this free open house, but "due to the recent release of the movie Oppenheimer, we expect a larger than normal crowd at the event," a news release said.

The release added wait times to get in could be up to two hours.

Visitors can tour the Schmidt/McDonald Ranch House where the plutonium core of the bomb was assembled, and walk a quarter-mile down to ground zero, where a small obelisk marks exactly where the bomb was detonated.

The Trinity Site is only open to the public twice a year, and the next available open house will be April 6, 2024.

From the US Army:

SITE ACCESS: ALAMOGORDO CARAVAN/STALLION GATE

Due to the annual increase in the number of visitors to the Trinity Site Open Houses. The Alamogordo caravan is only open to the first 125 vehicles. The limit is necessary to maintain a safe environment enroute to Trinity Site. Once you are at the site you must leave through the Stallion Gate at your convenience. There is NO caravan back to the Tularosa High School football field parking lot.

All others will have to enter the site through the Stallion Gate located off U.S. Highway 380. The route is approximately the same time and distance as the caravan route. Directions here

Stallion Gate Entrance

Exit I-25 on mile marker 139 (San Antonio, N.M.) and head 12 miles east or exit U.S. Highway 54 onto U.S. Highway 380 and head west 53 miles of Carrizozo, N.M. Turn south on New Mexico State Highway 525 and head south five miles to the Stallion gate.

Alamogordo Caravan

The Alamogordo caravan is sponsored by the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce and leaves from the Tularosa High School football field parking lot at 10 a.m. Turn west off Hwy. 54/70 in Tularosa at Higuero St. Proceed west to La Luz Ave. Turn right on La Luz Ave. (north) to athletic field.

In order to safely manage the vehicles, the Alamogordo caravan is only open to the first 125 vehicles. Once you are at Trinity Site you MUST leave through the Stallion Gate. There is NO caravan back to the Tularosa Gate.

If you enter Trinity Site through the Stallion Gate you can exit the range with the caravan as long as the caravan doesn't exceed 125 vehicles. The estimated time it takes to travel this route is about 1 to 1.5 hours depending on the number of vehicles in the caravan. There are no bathroom breaks or special stops along the route to and from Trinity Site.

For more information please contact the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce at 575-437-6120.

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