Fort Bowie – Perfect Place for a Winter Hike by Margie Anderson . Fort Bowie Trail is a 4.8 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Bowie, Arizona that offers scenic views and is good for all skill levels. Its public access route is a 13-mile drive south of I-10 with the last mile on a groomed dirt road to a parking lot. Count your steps at home and challenge yourself to keep hiking in the over 400 units of the National Park System not just for your enjoyment, but for your health too. In the fort’s visitor center, a home-like building with a wrap-around porch, a display of antique bottles notes, “At Fort Bowie’s peak, soldiers drank about 40,000 bottles of beer each year.” I leave the fort by way of a trail that loops behind the visitor center and climbs a rocky hill. This entry was posted 9 years ago on Thursday, February 10th, 2011. and is filed under Events and Things To Do, Outdoor Recreation. It can be slick in places. I like that you have to hike out to experience the site & visitor center. Fort Bowie is an abandoned military outpost and the site of many bloody battles between the government and Native Americans. Hikes not designed for organized groups. Bring extra water and stay hydrated. The trails at the Nature Center provide a close viewing of acrobatic insects, blooming wildflowers, aerial shows from birds and much more. Fort Bowie is a National Historic Site near Willcox, AZ, between the Dos Cabezes Mountains and the Chiricahuas. Fort Bowie National Historic Site is open year round 8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily except Christmas Day. The monument must have dedicated staff as you can tell the care of the area and the quality and number of interpretative signs is high. Fort Bowie National Historic Site: An Easy Hike full of beauty and history - See 196 traveler reviews, 257 candid photos, and great deals for Willcox, AZ, at Tripadvisor. The Trailhead to Fort Bowie begins from a parking lot on the graveled Apache Pass Road that runs south from the town of Bowie, or east from Ariz. 186. Fort Bowie National Historic Site Hike to Fort Bowie. With a rich past in Native history (Chochise and Geronimo) and the conquest of the American west by the US. Fort Bowie National Historic Site in southeastern Arizona is one of the few national monuments that can only be accessed by a 30-minute drive over gravel roads, followed by an hour's hike. Text and Photos by A.R. - See 197 traveler reviews, 257 candid photos, and great deals for Willcox, AZ, at Tripadvisor. Enjoy our beautiful Arizona weather and scenery, walk through history and earn a nifty pin! The sign says it is a gentle trail, I’d say it is more a moderate trail with gravel, dirt and rocks. No cheating here, you earn the experience. The fort and visitor center can only be reached on foot, which guarantees a quiet, uncrowded experience through this lovely … Fort Bowie was established to protect a stream and also a path for the US mail from San Francisco to St. Louis. Earn your next Hike for Health pins at the following Arizona parks: Chiricahua National Monument Coronado National Memorial Fort Bowie National Historic Site