Castle of the Plains
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site features a reconstructed 1840s adobe fur trading post on the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail where traders, trappers, travelers, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes came together in peaceful terms for trade. Today, living historians recreate the sights, sounds, and smells of the past with guided tours, demonstrations and special events.
6 June 2022
We had a beautiful day to take in this unit. First thing we learned was that a fort is not aways a fort in the way we think of them as being military establishments. When the Fort was reconstructed, its authenticity was based on the use of archaeological excavations, paintings, and original sketches, diaries and other existing historical data from the period. We were greeted by a wonderful volunteer and one of the forts many cats. After getting the history of the fort from the volunteer, we took in the movie, it was well done and explained the reason this trading post - fort was so important for the Santa Fe Trail. We got to explore the fort after that. We enjoyed taking in this site and spent around 4 hours taking it in.
Click here for photos of our visit
Our 154th NPS Unit
