Tour of ‘Oppenheimer’ film set opens to visitors in New Mexico

RIO ARRIBA COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – A new opportunity to tour the same set that was used during the award-winning film “Oppenheimer” is now available in New Mexico.

Tucked away in the desert at Ghost Ranch, near Abiquiu, stand several buildings and dirt roads that were built specifically for the movie. Director Christopher Nolan and the film’s production crew, including executive producer Thomas Hayslip and production designer Ruth De Jong, created the set to resemble the real-life Los Alamos, where J. Robert Oppenheimer and other scientists worked to create the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project in the 1940s.

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David Manzanares, Ghost Ranch’s field producer, recalled the moment he was contacted by Todd Christensen, the former director of the New Mexico Film Office, about the “Oppenheimer” film in October 2021.

“He gave me a call looking for locations in New Mexico. So, I gave him several ideas to pick my brain. He mentioned it would be looking for a hill or a cliff of sorts with this big overlook,” Manzanares told Nexstar’s KRQE.

A few weeks later, Nolan, Hayslip, De Jong and other crew members visited one of the areas Manzanares suggested. The team was taken to an untouched desert area that sits above the Tennessee Valley at Ghost Ranch off of U.S. 84. In the distance surrounding the area are mesas, red rocks, Abiquiu Lake, and the same desert landscape that captivated artist Georgia O’Keeffe and several other filmmakers.

The area was later selected to be a filming location.

Construction of the “Oppenheimer” set at Ghost Ranch began in November, and filming took place in 2022.

“It was incredible to watch,” Manzanares said about his experience working on the set and watching Nolan in action. “He’s very meticulous. He has a vision in his mind, and he hires people. He surrounds himself with professionals that can get it done. It was exciting.”

It took the crew about eight days to complete their filming at the set. Manzanares said he was there every day, starting from when the crew first arrived through early May. Much like the top-secret Manhattan Project, the details about the “Oppenheimer” film were kept under wraps until recently.

Now that production is over, Ghost Ranch is conducting guided tours of the filming locations, bringing its first group out there on Tuesday.

The remaining set pieces include a reproduction of the main Los Alamos security gate, a building that was based on the real blueprints of Oppenheimer’s office, two Quonset huts that served as a theater and an auto repair and storage shop, a church and additional log cabin-like buildings. Visitors will also see the main road where Cillian Murphy, who played J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Emily Blunt, as Kitty Oppenheimer, drove into town.

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Those who watched “Oppenheimer” and visited the set may notice that some of the buildings that were shown in the film are no longer standing at Ghost Ranch. Parts of the set were removed, and the telephone poles that were erected for production were taken down and remain on site in case any other group wants to use them for filming.

“So I think when people come for a tour, they get to maybe feel or touch a little bit of that magic. And I think that’s kind of cool. The magic is here all the time. But now we get to share it with, you know, the rest of the world,” said Manzanares.

The hour-and-a-half tour of the “Oppenheimer” set at Ghost Ranch is open to those ages 10 and up, with tickets costing $45 apiece. To book a tour, guests should contact Ghost Ranch’s tour department via email at tours@ghostranch.org. The schedule can also be found online.

“Oppenheimer” was filmed at multiple locations across New Mexico, including Los Alamos. More information about the filming locations can be found at KRQE.

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