Nevada has a 41-year legacy of blowing stuff up in the desert. More than 900 nuclear weapons were detonated between 1951 and 1992 at the Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas. Today, the highly secretive 1,350-square-mile government testing ground is known as the Nevada National Security Site, and it allows the public in for tours once a month. But timing is everything.
🎟️ How to Tour the Nevada National Security Site
Tours are free 😀 But they’re offered on an extremely limited basis and snatched up faster than Adele tickets. The next round of tours for the second half of 2024 becomes available on Monday, March 25 at 10 a.m., and the registration link is live for only 30 minutes. Look for it under the “Booking Tours” tab.
🗓️ Dates?
The tours take place on July 22, August 19, September 9, October 14, November 4, and December 9.
🚌 What is the tour like?
I joined one of the tours last year and wrote about the experience for Thrillist. I loved it. You will too, especially if you’re a junkie for Cold War history or the unique weirdness of Nevada. The tour is an all-day bus ride (with the National Atomic Testing Museum as the pick up/drop off location) with stops along the way at the site.
🤯 Top Stops on the Tour
You’ll see Sedan Crater, the country's largest man-made crater, and Frenchman’s Flat, where the site’s first test took place with remnants of bridges and bunkers built to see how they’d withstand the blast. Getting an up-close look at one of two 1950s-style houses is almost like visiting a ghost town. Those were also built to see how they’d stand up to nuclear force. Icecap is where one of the last planned underground detonations was in the middle of being set up before testing was paused, but remains in place as an ominous snapshot in time. Grand Zero is a staged disaster site with train and plane wreckage that’s used for training due to its high level of radioactivity.
👍 Rules and Advice
No phones or cameras. Everyone must wear long pants and closed-toe shoes, since this is still an official, operating military site. Loose, light cotton is a good idea. (The desert gets hot.) So is a hat. You’ll be given a badge to wear the entire time — and it must be turned around during the group photo moments. Drink any water offered. It’s virtually a requirement.
