Not the easiest site to get to but worth the hike. Give yourself several hours. Toilets at trail head, restrooms and free water at visitor center. Not required but walking sticks are a good idea as there is loose gravel on trail. Hat is a good idea also.

Always wanted to see this and finally got my chance. It is in the middle of nowhere and you have to hike 3 miles round trip from where you park. About half way on the trail is the cemetery. I was surprised to see a Medal of Honor winner buried there. When you get to the fort there are no... More

I actually visited Fort Bowie in Sept. 1990. It was an awesome experience. Because it was an off day with few visitors I received the VIP treatment from the person maning the station. The history is so rich there that I believe, I actually felt the mood of the people who lived there during that era. This site is well... More

After our enjoyable visit to Chirachua National Park we wanted to visit Fort Bowie. Following directions we turned on to a gravel road. We travelled 8 miles on a very rough, rutted gravel road. When we arrived at our destination much to our surprise...no fort, no visitor center. There was a porta-potty and a roadside information sign. There was a... More

The hike from the parking lot to the visitors center is 1-1/2 miles, but all along the path you get signs explaining the things you are seeing like ruins of miners cabins, a Butterfield Coach station, the spring, and a reconstructed Apache camp. The ruins of the forts are interesting. You can see pieces of glass or ceramics from early... More

My sister and I wondered whether to do the 1 and half mile walk to the fort but were so glad we decided to. It was surreal being out there on our own imagining the fighting and stage coachs etc going on there so long ago. The post cemetery was very interesting. The ranger at the fort was informative and... More

This side trip from Tucson is well worth the 2 hour drive. The trail into the site (1.5 miles) is through gently rolling hills and passes the famous Apache Spring, Ft. Bowie Cemetary, old Butterfield stage station, emmigrant trail, and ruins of the first Ft. Bowie. The exhibits at the ranger station and ruins of the 1860's era military base... More

The site is well taken care of, but it would have been wonderful had the buildings been preserved. It just broke my heart to see the pictures of the buildings, which now are nothing more than ruins. However, I did enjoy the very informative signs that can be found in short intervals along the path from the car park to... More

Normally reachable from Willcox via Hwy 186 and an 8-mile dirt road, and then an easy 1.5 mile hike, although there is an alternate dirt road route that is drivable all the way to the fort, reached via the town of Bowie on I-10. The 8-mile dirt road was well-maintained and our rental SUV had no problems at all with... More