When looking for accommodation in Los Alamos, it’s worth first deciding what you’d like to focus on: the city combines cultural history—from the homesteading era to the Cold War—with trails through canyons and across mesas. This can help you decide whether museums and historic sites or hiking will shape your stay.
History in Specific Places
The Los Alamos Historic District is a National Landmark District; all buildings in the district are listed in the New Mexico State Register of Historic Places. Bathtub Row reflects a distinctive feature of wartime Los Alamos: well-appointed homes with bathtubs were rare at the time and reserved for the highest-ranking members of the Manhattan Project.
From 1917 to 1943, Ashley Pond was the site of the Los Alamos Ranch School. The Los Alamos History Museum is housed in the city’s oldest continuously occupied building. Its exhibits cover early settlers, homesteader life, and the history of northern New Mexico; the exhibit program may evolve over time.
The fully restored Romero Cabin is part of the Los Alamos History Museum grounds in downtown. It is one of two structures from the homesteading era on the Pajarito Plateau. The Pond Cabin is now the only surviving log cabin from the homestead era on the grounds of Los Alamos National Laboratory. During the Manhattan Project, Emilio Segrè used the cabin as an office for his plutonium research team.
The Manhattan Project and the Cold War
The Los Alamos Visitor Center has exhibits about the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos. As the center’s operations may change, check its current opening hours before visiting. The “Los Alamos: Tour Behind the Fence” offers public tours of significant Manhattan Project sites behind the security fence. For planning, it’s a good idea to check the latest tour schedule.
The Ice House Memorial commemorates the building where the world’s first atomic device was assembled. The Hans Bethe House is home to the Harold Agnew Cold War Gallery. Artifacts and exhibits there explain the history of the Cold War in Los Alamos.
The Bradbury Science Museum in downtown offers insight into the institution’s history, its national security mission, and its research in science and technology. More than 40 interactive exhibits are spread across three galleries: History, Defense, and Research. The number of exhibits may change during future renovations.
Trails Through Canyons and Across Mesas
The extensive trail network in and around Los Alamos connects canyons and mesas via more than 150 miles of trails. It’s suitable for hikers, runners, horseback riders, and mountain bikers. The size and conditions of the trail network may change; check current trail conditions before planning a specific outing.
The Los Alamos Nature Center sits beside a canyon and offers exceptional views of the Jemez Mountains. A trail from there leads directly into a forested canyon and is suitable for hiking. The mesa-top trailheads offer a different experience: they provide access to flat, easy trails with views of the Rio Grande Rift. This gives you a choice between a wooded canyon trail and mesa trails overlooking the rift.
The trails also bring landscape and history together. The Kwage Mesa Trail features the Pueblo Communities trail station, which explains that Ancestral Pueblo people settled on the mesas around 1150 AD. The trail to the TA-18 Overlook follows a path used by Ancestral Pueblo people before the Manhattan Project occupied this land.
For the main travel overview: Los Alamos.
