What Were the 8 Possible Test Sites For the Atomic Bomb?

Last updated on July 8, 2022

The atomic bomb testing portion of the Manhattan Project, code named the Trinity Project, had 8 possible test sites. These possible sites were ¹Trinity, Kenneth Bainbridge (1976) PDF.

1. The Tularosa Basin near Alamogordo, NM
2. The lava beds (now the El Malpais National Monument) south of Grants, NM (which could have been fun, as the westerly winds probably could have carried fallout to Albuquerque)
3. The Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, today known as the White Sands Missile Range
4. An Army training area north of Blythe, California, in the Mojave Desert
5. San Nicolas Island (one of the Channel Islands) off the coast of Southern California
6. A desert area southwest of Cuba (NM) and north of Thoreau
7. Padre Island south of Corpus Christi, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico
8. San Luis Valley, near modern day Great Sand Dunes National Monument, located near Mosca, Co.

General Leslie Groves had decided on using the area north of Blythe, but opted not to use because he didn’t want to have to deal with the base’s commander, Gen. George S. Patton. So the “honor” fell to Alamogordo.