Trinity Site Open House October 2026

Trinity Site Open House Updated Guidance WSMR Public Affairs Office. ​White Sands Missile Range will open Trinity Site to the public after a brief pause in activities due to COVID-19 on Oct. 2. Trinity Site is where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested at 5:29:45 a.m. Mountain War Time July 16, 1945. The open house is free, and no reservations are required. At the site visitors can take a quarter mile walk to ground zero where a small obelisk marks the exact spot where the bomb was detonated. Historical photos are mounted on the fence surrounding the area. While at the site, visitors can also ride a missile range shuttle bus two miles from ground zero to the Schmidt/McDonald Ranch House. In order to comply with the New Mexico Governor COVID-19 mandates, masks must be worn while inside the buses and inside the ranch house. The ranch house is where the scientists assembled the plutonium core of the bomb. Visitors will also be able to experience what life was like for a ranch family in the early 1940s. In order to comply with the New Mexico Governor’s COVID-19 requirements, masks must be worn while inside the buses and inside the ranch house. The simplest way to get to Trinity Site is to enter White Sands Missile Range through its Stallion Range Center gate. Stallion gate is five miles south of U.S. Highway 380. The turnoff is 12 miles east of San Antonio, New Mexico, and 53 miles west of Carrizozo, New Mexico. The nearest city to make hotel reservations is Socorro, New Mexico. The Stallion Gate is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors arriving at the gate between those hours will be allowed to drive unescorted the 17 miles to Trinity Site. The road is paved and marked. The site closes promptly at 3:30 p.m. WSMR employees wanting to attend the Trinity Site Open House are not allowed to drive through the range, or they will be turned around. To get into the installation, employees must use one of the two options available to the general public, the Stallion Gate or with the Alamogordo Caravan. Media who would like to visit the open house must register by calling the Public Affairs Office at 575-678-1134. For more information on the open house please visit the Trinity Site website at: https://www.wsmr.army.mil/Trinity/Pages/Home.aspx The first Saturday in April and October. Stallion Gate Hours: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. Trinity site prompt closure: 3:30 p.m. Alamogordo: 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. All others will have to enter the site through the Stallion Gate located off U.S. Highway 380, View directions here. The route is approximately the same time and distance as the caravan route.