This depression in the land collected water on the high desert Pajarito Plateau, probably sparking the building of a nearby ancestral pueblo site. During the homestead era, the depression became a stock watering pond. In the late 1910s, staff from the Los Alamos Ranch School dug out the depression to create a stable water source for the school, and students couldn't resist naming it after the school's founder, Detroit businessman Ashley Pond II. Surrounded by laboratory buildings and fenced off during the Manhattan Project, the pond served as a source of water for fire suppression but was mostly forgotten and neglected. When the laboratory moved to another part of town, Ashley Pond became a park. It is a much loved and well used part of the community today.

Time Period Represented: Prehistory to the present

Hours Open: n/a

Visitor Fees: free

Seasons Open: Year around