B Reactor Overlook — a scenic viewpoint in Benton County, Washington — is a lesser-known subject for landscape photographers. It lies in or next to Manhattan Project National Historical Park, so park hours, fees and rules apply. It sits roughly 15.2 km (9.4 mi) ESE of Desert Aire.
From the National Park Service
The view from this overlook provides a sense of how the Manhattan Project transformed this region by displacing tribes and farmers with the construction of massive plutonium production facilities such as the B Reactor and T Plant on former cropland. Closer you will find Bruggemann’s Ranch , part of a large farm displaced by the Manhattan Project. Ranchers Paul and Mary Bruggemann were some of White Bluffs’s most successful farmers before the Manhattan Project. Their 550 acre (222 hectare) agricultural operation employed numerous people who harvested and packed a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Water pumped from the Columbia River allowed them to grow crops in this arid environment. Further away you can see the Manhattan Project facilities built shortly after the Bruggemanns’ removal. The B Reactor is the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor. Uranium fuel slugs were irradiated in one of Hanford’s nuclear reactors. Irradiated uranium fuel slugs were transported via railcar to the T Plant to chemically separate the plutonium from the uranium and other radioactive byproducts. Hanford’s plutonium powered the first human-made nuclear explosion at the Trinity Site and the Fat Man atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945.
Continue Your Journey The Department of Energy offers tours of the B Reactor and the Pre-War Historic Sites Tour that visit sites such as the Bruggemann Ranch, the White Bluffs Bank , Hanford High School , and the Allard Pumphouse where local people lived, worked, and came together as a tight-knit community prior to the arrival of the Manhattan Project. If you are unable to attend one of these tours you, can see the former White Bluffs community from the White Bluffs Overlook , and the Hanford High School Overlook from the White Bluffs trail on the Hanford Reach National Monument.
Text: National Park Service (public domain) — nps.gov.
Sunrise & sunset directions
At B Reactor Overlook the sunrise point swings a long way through the year: about 54° (NE) at the June solstice and 125° (SE) in late December. Sunset moves from 307° (NW) in June to 236° (SW) in December, and the midday sun climbs to 67° in summer but only 20° in winter.
| Date | Sunrise | Azimuth | Sunset | Azimuth | Noon sun | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox (Mar 20) | 7:03 AM | 89° E | 7:12 PM | 271° W | 43° | 12h 09m |
| June solstice (Jun 21) | 5:06 AM | 54° NE | 8:57 PM | 307° NW | 67° | 15h 51m |
| September equinox (Sep 22) | 6:47 AM | 89° E | 6:58 PM | 271° W | 44° | 12h 12m |
| December solstice (Dec 21) | 7:41 AM | 125° SE | 4:14 PM | 236° SW | 20° | 8h 33m |
Azimuth is measured clockwise from true north (90° = east, 270° = west). Computed for 2026; values change by less than a degree from year to year.
Golden hour & blue hour by month
Overlooks are about the sweep of the land, so low-angle light matters most: side-light at sunrise or sunset reveals ridges and texture that midday sun flattens.
| Month (15th) | Blue hour starts | Sunrise | Golden hour ends | Golden hour starts | Sunset | Blue hour ends | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:06 AM | 7:40 AM | 8:28 AM | 3:49 PM | 4:38 PM | 5:12 PM | 8h 58m |
| February | 6:33 AM | 7:04 AM | 7:47 AM | 4:41 PM | 5:24 PM | 5:55 PM | 10h 21m |
| March | 6:42 AM | 7:13 AM | 7:53 AM | 6:25 PM | 7:05 PM | 7:35 PM | 11h 52m |
| April | 5:40 AM | 6:12 AM | 6:53 AM | 7:06 PM | 7:47 PM | 8:19 PM | 13h 35m |
| May | 4:50 AM | 5:25 AM | 6:10 AM | 7:43 PM | 8:27 PM | 9:02 PM | 15h 01m |
| June | 4:26 AM | 5:06 AM | 5:53 AM | 8:08 PM | 8:55 PM | 9:34 PM | 15h 49m |
| July | 4:43 AM | 5:21 AM | 6:07 AM | 8:04 PM | 8:50 PM | 9:27 PM | 15h 29m |
| August | 5:25 AM | 5:58 AM | 6:40 AM | 7:29 PM | 8:11 PM | 8:44 PM | 14h 13m |
| September | 6:07 AM | 6:38 AM | 7:17 AM | 6:33 PM | 7:12 PM | 7:43 PM | 12h 35m |
| October | 6:47 AM | 7:17 AM | 7:58 AM | 5:32 PM | 6:13 PM | 6:44 PM | 10h 56m |
| November | 6:29 AM | 7:02 AM | 7:49 AM | 3:40 PM | 4:27 PM | 5:00 PM | 9h 25m |
| December | 7:02 AM | 7:37 AM | 8:29 AM | 3:21 PM | 4:12 PM | 4:48 PM | 8h 35m |
Local time (America/Los Angeles), including daylight saving time. Golden hour runs from about −4° to +6° solar altitude, so the morning golden hour begins during blue hour, before sunrise.
Milky Way & night sky
From B Reactor Overlook, the Milky Way core is visible in a dark sky from April through August. June gives the longest window (about 2.3 hours on a moonless night), and the core peaks around 14° above the southern horizon. Our light-pollution model puts the sky at about Bortle 3 (rural sky), good enough for detailed Milky Way images.
| Month | Core visible (15th) | Hours | Max altitude | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Below 10° in darkness | — | -5° | — |
| February | Below 10° in darkness | — | 6° | — |
| March | 5:16 AM – 5:26 AM | 0.2 | 11° | SSE → SSE |
| April | 3:19 AM – 4:09 AM | 0.8 | 13° | SSE → SSE |
| May | 1:25 AM – 2:55 AM | 1.5 | 14° | SSE → S |
| June | 11:47 PM – 2:07 AM | 2.3 | 14° | SSE → SSW |
| July | 11:24 PM – 1:04 AM | 1.7 | 14° | S → SSW |
| August | 10:12 PM – 11:02 PM | 0.8 | 13° | SSW → SSW |
| September | 8:57 PM – 8:57 PM | 0.0 | 10° | SSW → SSW |
| October | Below 10° in darkness | — | 5° | — |
| November | Below 10° in darkness | — | -4° | — |
| December | Below 10° in darkness | — | -20° | — |
Window when the galactic core is at least 10° high during astronomical darkness on the 15th of each month. Pick nights within a few days of the new moon. Plan exact nights with the Milky Way planner.
Estimated sky darkness: 3 Bortle 3 — Rural sky. Some light domes sit on the horizon, but the Milky Way still looks complex overhead. Modeled zenith brightness ≈ 21.59 mag/arcsec². Aurora needs roughly Kp 5.0+ to show low on the northern horizon here.
Weather & best season
Long-term NASA satellite data for this area show July as the clearest month (about 26% average cloud cover) and January as the cloudiest (79%). July is the warmest month and January the coldest, which matters for gear, snow access and how long batteries last at night.
Average cloud cover (%)
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High °F | 64 | 64 | 76 | 89 | 99 | 108 | 110 | 109 | 102 | 87 | 70 | 62 |
| Low °F | -3 | 7 | 12 | 27 | 33 | 42 | 49 | 48 | 34 | 19 | 15 | 8 |
| Precip. (in) | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
Monthly climatology for the surrounding 1° grid cell from NASA POWER (MERRA-2). Mountain sites can be colder and cloudier than the cell average.
Photography tips for this scenic viewpoint
- Check the sun azimuth for your date: front-light, side-light and back-light give three different pictures from the same rail.
- Haze builds in summer afternoons; mornings after a cold front are often the clearest.
- Stay behind barriers — many overlook edges are undercut or crumbly.
- A panorama of 3–5 vertical frames gives more resolution and a wider view without a fisheye look.
- Shoot RAW to keep the most latitude for high-contrast sunrise and sunset scenes.
Season: Clear, dry air in autumn and after winter storms gives the longest views; summer adds wildflowers but also haze.
Suggested gear: Tripod, Telephoto lens, Graduated ND filter, Headlamp. Work out exposures with the depth of field, ND filter and NPF rule calculators.
Permits, drones & access
National Park Service rules. Under federal law (54 U.S.C. 100905), still photography in National Park Service areas needs a permit only when it (1) takes place where members of the public are not allowed, (2) uses models, sets or props that are not part of the location's natural or cultural resources or administrative facilities, or (3) would cause the park to incur additional administrative costs to monitor the activity. Ordinary visitor and most landscape photography needs no permit. Commercial filming rules are separate and have changed in recent years — confirm current requirements with the park before a paid shoot.
Drones: Launching, landing or operating unmanned aircraft (drones) is prohibited in National Park Service units under a 2014 Superintendent's closure (36 CFR 1.5), except where a park has issued specific written approval. Flying from outside the boundary over park land can also violate park rules and disturb wildlife.
Nearby photo spots
Other locations within 25 km of B Reactor Overlook, closest first.
FAQ
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Sources
Location data: National Park Service. Sun, moon and Milky Way times are computed by LWPhoto Atlas for 2026. Climate: NASA POWER. Sky darkness is a population-based estimate (Walker's law), not a measurement. See data sources & licenses.