{"id":124,"date":"2026-05-12T16:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=124"},"modified":"2026-05-12T16:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:42:15","slug":"nevadas-bleakest-tourist-destination-cancels-tours-through-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=124","title":{"rendered":"Nevada’s bleakest tourist destination cancels tours through 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Nevada National Security Site, which hosted hundreds of\u00a0nuclear tests during the Cold War and helped instill fear in the public imagination through morbid public broadcasts, is canceling free public tours for the rest of the year, officials announced.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

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\u201cDue to funding uncertainty, public tours of the Nevada National Security Site have been canceled through 2026,\u201d a notice on its website says. \u201cGoing forward, public tours will be evaluated dependent on the budget situation at that time.\u201d<\/p><\/div>

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Arguably the most eerie tourist destination in Nevada, the test site has several attractions that bring thousands of annual visitors to the sparse desert region\u00a0\u2014 mainly because the remnants of some former nuclear projects are still standing.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>

One major attraction is , a small desert town 65 miles outside Las Vegas, which once housed hundreds of workers who carried out test operations. From 1951 to 1992, employees lived in temporary quarters, ate in mess halls and swam in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The Mercury Bowl, the town\u2019s eight-lane bowling alley, was a popular hangout for off-the-clock workers, along with the steak house and movie theater, where attendees watched feature films like \u201cOklahoma\u201d and \u201cWest Side Story.\u201d Since nuclear test programs ceased operations, many of the structures have been demolished or repurposed.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>

, complete with cars and houses, was built to simulate how a nuclear attack would impact \u201ca typical American community,\u201d according to the Nevada National Security Site. To illustrate a bomb\u2019s destruction, officials built two colonial-style homes, furnished them, and placed mannequins in dining rooms with fresh food flown in from San Francisco and Chicago. In 1953, officials televised a nuclear test, called \u201cAnnie,\u201d which destroyed one of these houses within just three seconds. Another test was broadcast in 1955, where a bomb, \u201cApple 2,\u201d blasted an even more elaborate community, complete with buildings, trailers and radio stations.<\/p><\/div>

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