Community

Los Alamos, New Mexico

Welcome to the Land of Enchantment, a beautiful place of clean air, outdoor living, breathtaking vistas and one of the most educated communities in the United States.

Located in the Southern Rocky Mountains, Los Alamos was recently named by America City Business Journals as the best place to live in America. Los Alamos is home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, created in 1943 to develop the world’s first Atomic Bomb. Today, the Laboratory employs the nation’s most highly educated population per capita. Los Alamos is known for its excellent school system. Five elementary schools and one middle school offer multiple gifted and talented education programs. Every year, Los Alamos High School places a large number of students in Honors and Advanced Placement courses. Los Alamos is conveniently located just 35 miles from Santa Fe, one of America’s most thriving arts communities. The cosmopolitan city of Albuquerque is located just 80 miles to the south.

Recreation

Golf, skiing, hiking and more — Los Alamos has it all when it comes to recreation. Nestled atop beautiful mesas below the Jemez Mountains, Los Alamos Golf Course offers a challenging 6,500-yard par 72, 18-hole layout through a multitude of ponderosa pines and cottonwood trees. Owned and operated by the County of Los Alamos, this beautifully maintained golf course, built in 1947 by the Atomic Energy Commission, is the second-oldest 18-hole golf course in New Mexico and offers panoramic vistas and clear, fresh mountain air at an elevation of 7,300 feet. For skiing, there’s Pajarito Mountain. Located on 730 acres of mountain terrain, it has five chair lifts, a ski school, a day lodge and a cafe. Los Alamos also has an outdoor ice rink and the Larry R. Walkup Aquatic Center, the largest Olympic pool in the state.

The Rio Grande River offers spectacular stretches of white water for canoe and kayak enthusiasts. Some of the finest mountain scenery in the entire Southwest can be found in the 1.6 million acres covered by the Santa Fe National Forest. Elevations rise from 5,300 to 13,103 feet at the summit of Truchas Peak, located within the Pecos Wilderness. Best known for mesas, sheer walled canyons and the ancestral Pueblo dwellings found among them, Bandelier National Monument also includes more than 23,000 acres of designated wilderness.