1964 Map of Kettle Butte SW

About this map

The National Reactor Testing Station occupies a significant portion of this Idaho landscape, marking a period of intense scientific and nuclear research in the mid-1960s. The terrain is defined by extensive formations of Lava, reflecting the volcanic history of the Snake River Plain. Prominent geographic landmarks like Kettle Butte and Twentymile Rock break the horizon, providing essential orientation points in an otherwise arid and isolated environment. Evidence of human utility and transit appears in the form of a Jeep Trail and a Taylor Well, along with several Borrow Pits that suggest local material extraction for infrastructure. This survey captures a moment when government research and high-desert geology converged, showing the physical footprint of the atomic age set against prehistoric basalt flows.