The area around El Malpais was used for resources , settlement , and travel by Oasisamerica cultures , Native Americans , and Spanish colonial and pioneer exploration . Archaeological sites remain in the park . In the 1940s the Malpais lava field was one of the eight candidate sites considered by the Manhattan Project to test detonate the first atomic bomb , the Trinity nuclear test , which did occur to the south at White Sands Proving Ground . The Department of Defense did use the site as a bombing range to train pilots during World War II
Trinity nuclear test
Trinity (nuclear test)
El Malpais National Monument