Theodore Roosevelt Presidential LibraryPublic Lands Directory

Alerts and conditions

All clear. The managing agency, the National Weather Service and wildfire reporting show no current alerts.

Overview

The Manhattan Project is one of the most transformative events of the 20th century. It ushered in the nuclear age with the development of the world’s first atomic bombs. Most of this development took place in three secret communities located in Hanford, WA, Los Alamos, NM and Oak Ridge, TN. Today, you can visit these three sites that make up Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

From the National Park Service

History

The designation history for this site (every law, proclamation and order, and the administration behind each) is being researched and checked by the Library’s historians.

What to see and do

Activities

  • Guided Tours
  • Junior Ranger Program
  • Park Film
  • Museum Exhibits

Browse hiking, biking and paddling routes on AllTrails

Plan your visit

Hours

Hanford Visitor Center: The Hanford Visitor Center is open Monday - Friday 9:00 AM-4:00 PM. Access to the Hanford B Reactor is suspended due to major construction projects. To check for updates about these tours, visit http://manhattanprojectbreactor.hanford.gov/. Separate tours of the Historic Sites are offered beginning in May. For more information about these tours, visit http://tours.hanford.gov/HistoricTours/.

Los Alamos Visitor Center: While there is currently no public access to the Department of Energy facilities in Los Alamos, walking tours are available in the town of Los Alamos. The Los Alamos Visitor Center is open Friday through Monday, 10 am to 3 pm.

Oak Ridge Visitor Center: The Oak Ridge Visitor Center is located within the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. Here you are able to speak with National Park Service rangers, watch a short film on the Manhattan Project, and get literature on Manhattan Project-related historic sites throughout Oak Ridge. Visitor Center services are limited on Sundays, but brochures, maps, and site films are available.

Getting there

Manhattan Project National Historical Park is located in three states: New Mexico, Tennessee, and Washington. For more information on accessing each of these three units, visit our Directions & Transportation page.

Visitor centers

Weather

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park has units in Hanford, WA, Los Alamos, NM, and Oak Ridge, TN. Check local weather conditions at each unit before you visit.

Phone: Hanford: 509.376.1647

Whose lands these are

These lands are the ancestral and present-day homelands of Native nations. A section on whose lands these are is being prepared with tribal review. In the meantime, Native Land Digital offers a starting point.

Photos

Gray factory building like stacked boxes with single taller smokestack beneath cloudy blue skies.
Hanford B Reactor · NPS
Uniformed park ranger talks animatedly to visitors on a hillside overlooking a sprawling urban area.
Hanford Hike Through Time · NPS
Two-story white house with two small windows, a single door, and flat roof stands in a gravel lot.
Los Alamos Slotin Building · NPS
Uniformed park ranger points to distance of fountain and trees as visitors sit enraptured.
Los Alamos Ashley Pond Walk · NPS
Wooden chair sits amid light blue paneling covered in dials, meters, screens, and buttons.
Oak Ridge X-10 Control Panel · NPS
A ranger is surrounded by visitors at a security gate, awaiting a ranger-led walk.
Oak Ridge Family Fun · NPS

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