2.7 miles away
Apache Pass
A 5,110-foot pass between the Dos Cabezas and Chiricahua Mountains east of Willcox, known in Spanish as Puerto del Dado.
Fort Bowie
A US Army post established in 1862 near Apache Pass, central to operations that ended with the surrender of Geronimo in 1886.
- Rank in Arizona
- #93of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 51.6 out of 100medium confidence
- Category
- Historic Site
Fort Bowie was a 19th-century outpost of the United States Army in south-eastern Arizona, near the present town of Willcox; the remaining buildings and the site are now protected as Fort Bowie National Historic Site. The fort was established in 1862 by the California Volunteers, after a series of engagements between the California Column and the Chiricahua Apaches, the most violent of which was the Battle of Apache Pass in July 1862. It was named in honour of Colonel George Washington Bowie, commander of the 5th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry, who first established it. The first fort resembled a temporary camp rather than a permanent army post, and in 1868 a second and more substantial Fort Bowie was built on a plateau about 500 yards to the east, with adobe barracks, houses, corrals, a trading post and a hospital. For more than thirty years the fort and Apache Pass were the focal point of military operations in the region, culminating in the surrender of Geronimo in 1886 and the banishment of the Chiricahuas to Florida and Alabama. The fort was abandoned in 1894.
Where it is
Fort Bowie is a historic site near Chiricahua National Monument, in Cochise County. It is one of the historic sites in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
No official visitor count is published for Fort Bowie, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.
Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.
Sources
- Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
- Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
- Official site: https://www.nps.gov/fobo/index.htm(opens in a new tab)
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
More photographs
Scotwriter21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab) 
Public domain · source(opens in a new tab)
Nearby attractions
10 miles away
Faraway Ranch
A former homestead in Chiricahua National Monument, settled in 1887 by Swedish immigrants Emma and Neil Erickson, later expanded into a house.
11 miles away
Chiricahua National Monument
A National Park System unit in south-eastern Arizona, established in 1924 to protect its hoodoos and balancing rocks.
15 miles away
Chiricahua Mountains
A range in south-eastern Arizona rising to 9,759 feet at Chiricahua Peak, lying largely within the Coronado National Forest.
19 miles away
Paradise
A small ghost town in Cochise County, Arizona, settled in 1901 while the area was still the Arizona Territory.21 miles away
Cienega of San Simon
A former cienega, or area of springs, 13 miles up the San Simon River from San Simon Station in Cochise County.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Historic Site
- Destination
- Chiricahua National Monument
- County
- Cochise County
- State
- Arizona
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 51.6 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 43.9
- Significance score
- 58.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Official website
- nps.gov(opens in a new tab)
- Coordinates
- 32.1461, -109.4360
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12