Theodore Roosevelt Presidential LibraryPublic Lands Directory

Alerts and conditions

Information Guided Tours at the Reconstructed Fort

Regularly scheduled guided tours provide access into furnished rooms and explore the fort’s role in Westward Expansion and the reconstruction of the fort in 1976.

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Caution Capacity Restrictions at the Reconstructed Fort

The design of the reconstructed fort fails to meet accessibility, fire, and life-safety requirements of 1976. A lack of code compliant components such as emergency lighting, illuminated exit signage, panic hardware on doors, and outwardly swinging exit doors results in a limitation of 49 occupants for visitor operations within the reconstructed fort.

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Caution Plaza Access to Reconstructed Fort

Entry into the reconstructed fort is limited to the central plaza on scheduled days. For your safety respect all closures and restrictions. Guided tours provide access into additional areas.

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Information A Short Walk is Required to Reach the Fort

A 1/4 mile (1,275 feet) walk on a paved trail from the parking area is required to reach the gate of the fort. At the end of your visit, you'll return to your vehicle along the same path.

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Overview

In the 1840s the Arkansas River was the border between territory claimed by the United States and Mexico. Located along the river, Bent's Fort was an adobe trading post on the Santa Fe Trail, where traders, trappers, travelers, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes came together in peaceful terms for trade. Today, a reconstructed fort allows visitors to explore the front line of Westward Expansion.

From the National Park Service

History

The designation history for this site (every law, proclamation and order, and the administration behind each) is being researched and checked by the Library’s historians.

What to see and do

Activities

  • Arts and Culture
  • Craft Demonstrations
  • Cultural Demonstrations
  • Biking
  • Road Biking
  • Guided Tours
  • Self-Guided Tours - Walking
  • Hiking
  • Living History
  • Junior Ranger Program
  • Wildlife Watching
  • Birdwatching
  • Park Film
  • Museum Exhibits
  • Shopping
  • Bookstore and Park Store
  • Gift Shop and Souvenirs

Browse hiking, biking and paddling routes on AllTrails

Plan your visit

Hours

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site: The park grounds are open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., except on New Year's Day, the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr, Washington's Birthday, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. During the off-season [October-March annually], the grounds are open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., except for the holidays listed above. Plaza access into the reconstructed fort is on a separate schedule—see the event calendar for hours of operation on scheduled plaza access days.

Replica Fort: Five days a week the public is invited inside the 1976 replica of Bent’s Old Fort, entering through the zaguan gate and into the plaza. Park Rangers will be present to explain the features of the fort and its 20th century reconstruction. Entry into the replica fort is limited to the central plaza, except on guided tours, due to safety issues. For your safety, respect all closures and restrictions. Guided tours provide access to some furnished spaces.

Getting there

The park is accessed via U.S. Highway 50 and Highway 194. From La Junta, Colorado on U.S. Highway 50, take Colorado Highway 109 north 1 mile to Colorado Highway 194, then east on Colorado Highway 194 six miles to the fort. From Las Animas, Colorado, on U.S. Highway 50, take Colorado Highway 194 west 13 miles. Set your GPS to 35110 State Highway 194 E., La Junta, CO.

Visitor centers

  • Information Center

Weather

Summer temperatures are often in the high 90s and low 100s. Weather is generally fair in the fall and spring. Winter temperatures can be below freezing. Most of the replica fort is unheated and does not have modern cooling systems, so dress accordingly.

Phone: 719 383-5010

Whose lands these are

These lands are the ancestral and present-day homelands of Native nations. A section on whose lands these are is being prepared with tribal review. In the meantime, Native Land Digital offers a starting point.

Photos

Bent's Old Fort with shortgrass prairie in foreground and blue sky and clouds above
Bent's Old Fort · NPS Photo
Wooden boxes and buffalo furs are scattered around a plaza inside an adobe fortification.
Boxes and Furs · NPS Photo
Bent's Old Fort with shortgrass prairie, tepee and wagon in foreground and blue sky & clouds above
Bent's Old Fort · NPS Photo
bundles of glass trade beads tied together hang from a wooden rafter
Beads in the Trade room · NPS Photo
An adobe fort with lights under a starry sky
Bent's Old Fort at night · NPS Photo
A Conestoga wagon and a solar race car stand on a road with a large adobe fort in the background
The Past and Future at Bent's Old Fort · NPS Photo

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