2569. Go to Fort Larned National Historic Site in Larned

Our original plan on the way home from Arizona was to head up through Monument Valley, Utah, and Colorado. However, a potential winter storm in the Rockies had us taking the southern route basically retracing our old route on the way down. When I realized we would be going through Dodge City, KS around lunch time, I said I wanted to go to to Fort Larned. We always get to the area too late to visit on the way. down. 

Fort Larned National Historic Site is located in Larned, KS about an hour northeast of Dodge City. It is open year round 8-4:30. There is no admission fee.

Fort Larned was built in 1859 to protect traffic along the Santa Fe trail from unfriendly Native Americans. Because of being located on the plains, there was little need for fortification because the only real threat were the Native Americans. It was a working fort with the barracks, officer quarters, stores and storehouses being built around the parade ground. Other buildings including blacksmith, quartermaster stables, and mailroom were on the outskirts of the parade grounds.

The parking lot is a short walk from the actual fort. You have to walk across a bridge and down the gravel path to get to the fort. It is handicap accessible. It was very cold and windy when we got there. I gave the hubby the option of staying in the car or coming with me. He came with.

The first buildings were saw were the officer quarters

The visitor center is in one of the barracks. Inside the visitor center is also a small museum.

Because still having a good 4-5 hours of driving ahead of us, that is all we checked out. If it wasn't so cold and windy, we might have checked out some of the other buildings. Hopefully one day we will be able to get back to check out the rest of the fort.

For Larned is really well maintained since it is sandstone. The officers' quarters still have the name etched in the bricks.

If you are ever in the area, I would suggest stopping and check out Fort Larned. It gives you a glimpse at life at a plains Fort in the mid to late 1800s. It is definitely worth stop.