Beginning Saturday, May 24, 2025, the reconstructed fort will be accessible to the public through ranger-led tours.

Reconstructed Fort Open For Guided Tours Only

Make sure to take hot weather into consideration. Carry water and use sunscreen to reduce the risk of heat injuries during your visit.

Beat the Heat!

If you see a dead bat or a bat acting strangely at the fort, please do not touch or move it. Report the location of the animal to park staff.

Do Not Handle Wildlife

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.

A Short Walk is Required to Reach the Fort

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.

Bent's Old Fort Annual Park Pass - Cost $35.
Covers entrance fees for passholder plus three adults at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. This pass can be purchased at the entrance inside the fort and at the Western National Parks Association park store in the back of the fort. Good for one year from purchase. Non-transferable and non-refundable.

Annual Entrance - Park

Two animals are tied to a wooden frame in the interior of a large adobe structure.

Horse and Mule in the Plaza

Bent's Old Fort with shortgrass prairie in foreground and blue sky and clouds above

Bent's Old Fort

Wooden boxes and buffalo furs are scattered around a plaza inside an adobe fortification.

Boxes and Furs

Bent's Old Fort with shortgrass prairie, tepee and wagon in foreground and blue sky & clouds above

bundles of glass trade beads tied together hang from a wooden rafter

Beads in the Trade room

An adobe fort with lights under a starry sky

Bent's Old Fort at night

Bent's Old Fort in background with wagon in front; fall yellow cottonwood leaves in foreground

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

A row of saddles are arrayed along a wooden beam near an adobe building

Saddles in the Plaza

A wooden counter is in the foreground of a trade room, with sales items on display in the background

Traderoom

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.

Thanksgiving Day

Christmas Day

New Year's Day

Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Washington's Birthday

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site

Guided Tours

Take a tour with a Park Ranger to learn more about Bent's Old Fort. Tours are limited to twenty-five participants and will explore the historic use of the site and the reconstruction of the fort in the 1970s.

A park ranger talks to two visitors inside a plaza of the reconstructed fort.

Park Ranger with visitors in the plaza

Tours begin at the Orientation Shelter at the visitor parking area before walking to the fort. 

Take a tour with a Park Ranger to learn more about Bent's Old Fort. During the summer of 2025, guided tours of the fort will occur at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, guided tours will be available at 11:00 a.m. only. Each tour will last approximately seventy-five minutes and begin at the visitor parking orientation shelter. Tours are limited to twenty-five participants and will explore the historic use of the site and the reconstruction of the fort in the 1970s.

Pets are permitted on trails, and must be leashed at all times, kept close at hand and away from fort livestock. Pets are allowed inside the fort plaza only. <a href="https://cms.nps.gov/beol/planyourvisit/pets.htm">Learn more about our pet policy</a>.

At this time, guided tours are conducted on a first come, first serve basis.

Regularly scheduled guided tours are available five days a week from Memorial Day through Labor Day. 

Take a tour with a Park Ranger to learn more about Bent's Old Fort. Tours are limited to twenty-five participants and will explore the historic use of the site and the reconstruction of the fort in the 1970s. 

Guided Tours of Bent's Old Fort

African American Heritage

Architecture and Building

Commerce

Trade

Enslavement

Explorers and Expeditions

Forts

Grasslands

Prairies

Hispanic American Heritage

Laborer and Worker

Latino American Heritage

Military

Native American Heritage

Scenic Views

Trails

Transportation

Roads, Routes and Highways

Wars and Conflicts

Mexican War

Westward Expansion

Hiking

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site offers hikers access to the reconstructed fort and provides opportunities for bird watching and enjoying the scenery of the grasslands and wetlands. The grasslands, the Arkansas River and the marsh are home to several species of birds. 

<a href="https://www.nps.gov/beol/planyourvisit/fees.htm">Park entry fee or annual pass required for all adult visitors.</a>

Photo of Arkansas River with blue sky and sunflowers beside Bent's Old Fort trail

Trail Along the Arkansas River

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site offers hikers access to the reconstructed fort and historic grounds. Multiple opportunities for bird watching exist along the 1-3/4 mile looping trail system. Visitors can enjoy meandering beside the Arkansas River among the blue grama and buffalo grasses hemmed by cottonwood groves all year round. The pinks and yellows of the showy milkweed and prairie sunflower bring the trail to life in late spring and summer. Our wetlands provide cover and habitat for several local and migratory bird species such as ring-necked pheasant, turkey, snow geese and American coot. You will likely hear the call of red-winged black birds and meadowlarks or spot a northern harrier overhead while you visit. Interpretive wayside panels are dispersed throughout the length of the trail and highlight the importance of the Arkansas River's ecosystem to the communities living near Bent's Fort nearly two hundred years ago. The loop trail can be accessed at either the visitor parking area or at the gate installed on the southside of the fort structure.

Visitors can hike a 1.75 mile trail that winds its way through the cottonwood trees alongside the wetlands and the Arkansas River. Interpretive exhibit panels explain the further significance of this important river ecosystem.

Hiking along the Arkansas River

Animals

Birds

Groundwater

River and Riparian

Wetlands

Marshes

Self-Guided Tours - Walking

<a href="https://cms.nps.gov/beol/planyourvisit/fees.htm">Park entry fee or annual pass required for all adult visitors.</a>

A paved path leads to a reconstructed adobe fort. Two tipis are set up in the foreground

Pathway to the Fort

The paved pathway begins at the parking area and leads directly to Bent's Old Fort, following the path of the historic Santa Fe Trail. 

From the visitor parking lot to the fort entrance is a one-quarter mile paved path. There are two benches installed along the way for your convenience. As this stretch has no cover, please bring water, sunscreen, and a hat during warm weather. In windy, snowy, and rainy conditions, dressing in appropriate weather-proof layers is recommended. Comfortable and protective walking shoes are also advised. Public water fountains, restrooms, picnic tables and a shade shelter are located within a few steps of the parking lot.

The entrance to the reconstructed fort is gained from the one-quarter mile paved pathway extending from the shade shelter to the fort doors. The pathway is wheelchair accessible; however, the perimeter and interior flooring of the fort plaza is loose sand.

Trail to History

Archeology

Colonization and Settlement

Junior Ranger Program

While Junior Ranger booklets are free, a <a href="https://cms.nps.gov/beol/planyourvisit/fees.htm">park entry fee or annual pass is required for all adult visitors.</a>.

front cover of Junior Ranger booklet with buffalo in center, Native American on horse and trader

Junior Ranger Booklet

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site's Junior Ranger program is a free place-based activity that immerses participants in the environment, surroundings, and cultural landscape that make this site unique. Junior Ranger booklets are available at the fort. Participants earn a wooden Junior Ranger badge after completing fun activities. Our Junior Ranger program is also offered online with a virtual Junior Ranger badge upon completion.

Activities with pets are limited at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. Pets are permitted on the trail and must be leashed at all times, kept close at hand and away from fort livestock. Pets are not allowed inside the fort.

Upon your arrival at the fort, request a Junior Ranger booklet from a park ranger. Tour the fort and grounds while completing the booklet according to your skill level. Take your completed book to a park ranger to receive a Junior Ranger Badge.

Become a Junior Ranger at Bent's Old Fort

Birdwatching

Male (Tom) Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, displaying

Wild Turkey

Birdwatching can be a fun activity that the whole family can enjoy. Seventy-two species of birds are currently documented at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. Great horned owls, Wild turkeys, Ring-necked pheasants, and Red-headed woodpeckers are commonly seen or heard along the river in the cottonwoods. In the winter, Northern harriers and Red-tailed hawks can be viewed as they prey on small rodents in the scattered trees along the river. Mallards, Snow geese, and Canada geese can be found in the large wetland during the winter. White-faced ibis migrate through the park in the spring. The park has a <a href="https://www.nps.gov/beol/learn/nature/upload/Bents_Old_Fort_NHS_Bird_Checklist_508_Sept2020.pdf">Bird Check List </a>(hard copies available at the fort) that includes 137 species of birds and lists 15 species that were identified from period diaries as being here during the 1840's.

Birdwatching can be a fun activity that the whole family can enjoy. Seventy-two species of birds are currently documented at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. The park has a Bird Check List (hard copies available at the fort) that includes 137 species of birds and lists 15 species that were identified from period diaries as being here during the 1840's. Park Species Lists

Park grounds may be accessed from dusk to dawn from the parking area during normal business hours and from the pedestrian entrance adjacent the DAR gate along the highway. 

Alert: Reconstructed Fort Open For Guided Tours Only: Beginning Saturday, May 24, 2025, the reconstructed fort will be accessible to the public through ranger-led tours.

Bent's Old Fort

Overview

Hours

Fees & Passes

Map

Things To Do

Category

Guided Tours of Bent's Old Fort

Description

Hiking along the Arkansas River

Description

Fees

Trail to History

Description

Fees

Become a Junior Ranger at Bent's Old Fort

Description

Fees

Birdwatching at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site

Description

Fees

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