Leaving the Chiricahuas after two nights camping and hiking in the Wonderland of Rocks, on our way to Tucson for Thanksgiving with family, we took a short detour to visit the Fort Bowie National Historic Site. The drive in from the west included 8 miles on a gravel/dirt road, in fine shape on our visit but I wouldn’t tackle it after recent rainfall. We drove out going east from the Site, towards the town of Bowie; the road became paved just a couple of miles form the Site’s parking.
The Hike
Ft Bowie Hike.Pat.2018-11-21
The hike into the Site is easy – clean trail, very small changes in elevation. As you will learn from reviewing the references below, the trail passes a few historic sites: the remains (foundations) of a Stage Station on the Butterfield Stage line, the post cemetary, Apache Spring (the reason this valley was so important), the original small fort, and the more elaborate Fort Bowie itself. This was a nice place to visit, to learn more about the history of the Southwest.
Statistics
Total Distance: 3.6 miles
Elevation: start 4,731 ft, maximum 5,017 ft, minimum 4,687 ft
Gross gain: 286 ft. Aggregate ascending 405 ft, descending 503 ft
Maximum slope: 20% ascending, 20% descending, 4.9% average
Duration: 2:41
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I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.
References
National Park Service: Fort Bowie
Legends of America: Fort Bowie, Arizona National Historic Site
The American Southwest: Fort Bowie National Historic Site
National Parks Traveler:
Fort Bowie National Historic Site: Conflicts with the Apache
AllTrails: Fort Bowie Trail