As summer turns to fall and the back-to-school season begins, people are eager for safe ways to enjoy a change of scenery and fresh air and learn more about our nation’s natural and cultural history. At Manhattan Project National Historical Park’s site in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, six new interpretative panels are helping to enrich the experience of exploring the Kwage (KWA-hee) Mesa Interpretive Trail.

“This land has such a multifaceted history, and much of its past can’t be understood at just a glance,” said Tracy Atkins, program manager at Department of Energy’s Legacy Management Office (LM).  “We believe the new additions at the Kwage Mesa Trail will help educate visitors to Manhattan Project National Historical Park and further their understanding of the area as they explore its stunning vistas.”

LM partnered with the National Park Service (NPS), the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and Los Alamos County in a multiyear project to create and install the informational signs along the Kwage Mesa Trail, a 4.3-mile stretch overlooking canyons and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Prior to the project, the trailhead provided only a small piece of information relevant to the park. The new signs offer hikers context into the geography, history, and heritage of the area, including a look into its past as a site for the Manhattan Project’s secret laboratory, built in 1943.

The first sign describes how volcanic activity shaped the Pajarito Plateau, through which the Kwage Mesa Trail winds.
The first sign describes how volcanic activity shaped the Pajarito Plateau, through which the Kwage Mesa Trail winds.

“The breadth and depth of history in this region is fascinating, from the site’s prehistoric geographic formation to the spread of its first inhabitants, to its legacy as a testing site during World War II,” Atkins said. “I’m excited to bring that frame of reference to the many visitors who pass through the area every year.” 

Unveiling the new signage at the Aug. 19 ribbon-cutting ceremony was a testament to the hard work and collaboration of dedicated scientists, historians, and local government officials. With the goal of enhancing public access and knowledge of the trail, the partnership resulted in entirely new content.

The waysides offer a glimpse into the lives and timeline of human settlers in the area now known as New Mexico. Specifically, the signs detail the migration of Paleo-Indian and Archaic hunters, followed by the Ancestral Puebloan people. To ensure the signage accurately captures their culture, the NPS and LM teams engaged the descendants of Ancestral Pueblo Indians on language and the phonetic spelling of content. Another sign describes how many of the Hispano people – descendants of early Spanish settlers who farmed the land in the late 19th century – played integral roles in the success of the Manhattan Project through their work at the Los Alamos laboratory.

From the trail’s Point Weather Overlook, hikers can view Bayo Canyon, where high explosives were tested by Manhattan Project scientists. The wayside there tells how such tests led to the development of the “Fat Man” bomb, which would implode and detonate the plutonium pit of a nuclear weapon.

Making the Kwage Mesa Trail the picturesque place it is today required several decades of cleanup. The final wayside details the extensive deconstruction and disassembly efforts in Bayo Canyon, beginning in 1963. Demolition of the firing site was finished in that same year, and little evidence of its prior use remains. Today, LM continues to monitor buried soils within a 1.5-acre plot associated with a former purification laboratory.

Kwage Mesa group shot.

From left to right: Eric Peterson, open space manager for Los Alamos County; James Robinson, vice-chairman of Los Alamos County Council; Linda Deck, executive director of Bradbury Science Museum; Ellen McGehee, retired LANL historian; Tracy Atkins, program manager of Manhattan Project NHP, DOE LM; Kris Kirby, NPS superintendent at Manhattan Project NHP; Vicki Loucks, retired LANL Cultural Resources Program manager and Manhattan Project NHP site representative; Cheryl Abeyta, TRIAD MPNHP program manager; Mike Brenner, Pueblo of San Ildefonso tribal historic preservation officer; and Linda Matteson, program manager for Los Alamos County.

“We're very proud of the dedication of these teams to bring the new waysides to life,” said James Robinson, Los Alamos County Council vice-chairman. “The diversity of voices and perspectives helped us tell a multidimensional story with impact, to the benefit of both the local Los Alamos community and the many visitors who come here every year.” 

Visitors can learn more about the trail by visiting the National Park Service’s website.