In the white-hot flash of the 2024 Oscars, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer took Best Picture, Actor, Director, and an armful of other statuettes. These laurels, in addition to the nearly $1 billion in box office revenue, indicated that maybe, just maybe, the world really was ready to stop worrying and love the bomb. 

On October 19, the Trinity Site, where Robert Oppenheimer himself oversaw the first man-made nuclear explosion, will be opening to the public for the first time since the film came out. For anyone with an interest in this fascinating time in New Mexico—and world—history and the complicated legacy we are still dealing with today, the Trinity Site is a must-see. 

Of course, the film but hints at the expanse of our state’s nuclear history, and any serious investigation will include tours of some of the other important sites in New Mexico. And you’ll want more than movie theater popcorn and overpriced candy along the way. Consider stopping at some of these favorite dining options as you follow the atomic trail. You’ll have plenty to think about as you eat.

Jemez Springs

Jemez Springs is not high on the list of most atomic tours of the state, but it nonetheless can show us something interesting about how Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves made their ultimate decision to base the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos. According to Ray Monk’s Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center, this tiny, picturesque town was on a short list to house the project and seemed in many ways well suited: it was accessible to Albuquerque’s train station and airport while maintaining a remoteness that would accommodate the secretive nature of the task. On November 16, 1942, Oppenheimer and Groves visited the pastoral village, but decided very quickly that the setting was less than ideal. The high canyon walls meant that days would be short and the winters cold and gloomy, perhaps increasing the alienation that the already isolated project scientists would experience.

Winters in Jemez Canyon may not be conducive to secret nuclear weapons programs, but autumn is a gorgeous time for atomic tourists to visit the mountain community. And no visit would be complete without a stop at Los Ojos Restaurant and Saloon. Built by Lebanese immigrants in the early twentieth century as a general store, Los Ojos’ character is a throwback to a more rough-and-ready New Mexico. The adobe and wooden walls are bedecked with dusty taxidermy, and the rough-hewn bar is a perfect spot for chatting up locals. If you’re lucky and come on a crisp, cool day, the enormous fireplace will be smoldering away, and you’ll get a glimpse of the New Mexico that Robert Oppenheimer fell in love with.

📍Los Ojos Restaurant and Saloon, 17596 NM-4, Jemez Springs, 575-829-3547

Los Alamos

There’s no avoiding Los Alamos if you’re retracing the steps of our pal Oppy. The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Visitor Center is the perfect place to get your bearings and start your exploration of the once-secret city. Next, head across the street to the Los Alamos History Museum at Fuller Lodge—a two-story log-and-stone building that served as the staff quarters and dining hall for the Los Alamos Ranch School that Oppenheimer attended as a child. This John Gaw Meem–designed structure is where the first project scientists stayed when they arrived at the townsite, but the area had been occupied long before they arrived. Near the lodge, check out the Romero Cabin, once owned by Hispanic homesteaders who lived and worked on the Pajarito Plateau before the government forced them to abandon their home and livelihood in the interest of national defense. And just a few steps away, the ruins of a thirteenth-century village stand as a reminder that the land Los Alamos occupies is the traditional territory of the Ancestral Puebloan peoples, the descendents of whom still call the area home.

Following the park’s trail, you’ll come to the Hans Bethe House, a beautifully restored example of the midcentury living conditions of the project’s higher-ups, complete with a television playing the infamous Duck and Cover civil defense film on a loop. After immersing yourself in the various dissonances of Los Alamos—the Greatest Generation can-do spirit huddled around the greatest destructive force the world has ever seen—you’ll be happy to note that it’s just a few convenient steps to Bathtub Row Brewing. Named for the houses that were assigned to senior staff like Bethe and Oppenheimer during the project days (they were so fancy they had bathtubs, you see,) this pub has been slinging house-brewed beer since 2015. If you’re feeling bold, try the Hoppenheimer IPA, a 7.3% beast with an explosive mixture of citrus and piney hops that’s perfect for wrestling with the contradictions of your surroundings.

📍Bathtub Row Brewing, 163 Central Park Square, Los Alamos, 505-500-8381

Santa Fe

Upon arriving in New Mexico, Manhattan project scientists checked into an unassuming location right off Santa Fe’s plaza. At the time, 109 East Palace was an adobe portal leading to a small office, where secretary Dorothy McKibben greeted the newcomers and arranged travel to “the hill.” Today you wouldn’t notice the location if you weren’t looking for it, and even then you’ll be thankful for a small sign by the front entrance. Head into the courtyard and you’ll find a plaque set into the wall noting that this, in some ways, is where the atomic age really began. The conveniently located Oppie’s Coffee is here also, just below a sign festooned with Oppenheimer’s enigmatically smiling face, to provide any caffeination you may need. 

If a more substantial meal is in order, the Shed is practically next door. First opened in 1953, the Shed is an absolute classic for New Mexican food—whatever you order, get it smothered in red chile. However, word about the Shed has long been out and wait times can be long. The Plaza Cafe is another nearby option and has the additional credibility of having existed back in the Manhattan Project days. The café offers both traditional New Mexican food (the posole is a family favorite) and diner fare like hamburgers, pancakes, and steak and eggs, as well as a beautiful patio perfect for watching the parade of modern tourists and assorted Plaza denizens. 

📍The Shed, 113 1/2 East Palace Ave, Santa Fe, 505-982-9030
📍Plaza Cafe, 54 Lincoln Ave, Santa Fe, 505-982-1664

Albuquerque

Despite the government’s efforts, Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project did not stay secret for long, and spies soon infiltrated. One of the most infamous spies at Los Alamos was a machinist named David Greenglass. Greenglass surreptitiously drew sketches of the Fat Man bomb design before traveling to Albuquerque, where he stayed at the Freeman boarding house and passed the designs along to a KGB operative.

The house where Greenglass made his nefarious rendezvous still stands near the intersection of Copper and High Street, and today serves as a bed-and-breakfast called, naturally, the Spy House.

Not far away on just the other side of Central is Farina Pizzeria & Wine Bar, which offers artisanal pizzas that emerge from their wood-fired oven with a perfectly crisp and ever-so-slightly charred crust. Open for both dinner and lunch, and offering traditional as well as gluten-free pies, it’s an excellent spot to refuel before (or after) crossing town for the next stop: the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Here, you’ll find a huge number of Manhattan Project relics, including the automobile used to transport scientists to our next destination, the Trinity Site. If you fancy a tipple afterward, the veteran-owned Bombs Away Beer Company just up the street offers a fine selection of ordnance-themed brews.

📍Farina Pizzeria & Wine Bar, 510 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, 505-243-0130
📍Bombs Away Beer Company, 9801 Acoma SE, Albuquerque, 505-554-3204

The Trinity Test Site

All the other legs of this whirlwind tour of New Mexico’s nuclear history can be accomplished at your leisure, but the Trinity Site is only open two days a year, so you’ll need to plan ahead for this one. Mark your calendar for October 19 and then make the two-hour journey from Albuquerque as early as you can stand to beat the crowds of fellow atomic pilgrims. Descending into the Tularosa Basin, you’ll soon arrive at the northern end of the ominously named Jornada del Muerto (which translates to “journey of the dead man”). There in the shadow of the Oscura Mountains, an obelisk built from volcanic rock marks the point at which a fire hotter than the sun was birthed into existence by the combined efforts of 130,000 scientists, engineers, laborers, and their families from all over the country. Bits of trinitite—sand that fused into glass during the detonation—sparkle on the ground, and a melted metal nub marks the actual site of the tower that held “the gadget.” It’s a discomfiting experience, and you’ll likely come away both slightly overwhelmed and horrified, but perhaps still glad you went to face the epicenter of American nuclear hegemony. 

On the way back to Albuquerque, it’s a tradition to stop at the Owl Bar & Cafe in San Antonio. Of course, the day that Trinity Site is open is the busiest day of the year for this hole-in-the-wall saloon, so be prepared to wait. But it’s worth it: the green chile cheeseburgers are amazing enough to briefly banish one’s ruminations on the deep incongruities inherent in this chapter of New Mexico’s past, or at least the desire to check yourself over with a Geiger counter. 

📍The Owl Bar & Cafe, 77 US Hwy 380, San Antonio