Fort Buenaventura In Utah Is A Mountain Man Paradise

There are special places all over the Beehive State where visitors can step back in time and experience what life was like long before the pioneers arrived. In Ogden, you'll find Fort Buenaventura. It's a pretty park, but also the site of a replica fort that was originally build in 1846.

Miles Goodyear was a mountain man and fur trapper who roamed the western United States in the mid-1800s. In 1846, he built a fort as a home base for his trading post.

Many other mountain men hunted, trapped, and traded with local Native Americans during that time period, including Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, and Peter Skene Ogden.

The fort was located on the banks of the Weber River. Goodyear later sold the property to the Mormons, who had recently arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.

Today, Fort Buenaventura sits on 84 acres of property owned and managed by Weber County. It includes a replica fort, walking trails, three cabins, and a pretty pond.

The Fort Buenaventura Mountain Men is a non-profit organization, and its members teach the public about the lives and skills of the mountain men and Native Americans who lived along the Wasatch Front in the 1800s.

The group hosts a rendezvous every spring, and a buckskinner day every fall. Members dress in period costume and give demonstrations of mountain man skills including shooting, archery, cooking, tanning hides, and more.

Year-round, this park is a pretty place to visit. The pond is perfect for canoeing and kayaking...

...and there's even a disc-golf course here. Bring a picnic blanket and some lunch so you can enjoy a day of adventures.

Fort Buenaventura is free to visit. It's open from Easter weekend through the end of October.

Learn more about the history of this area on the Fort Buenaventura website. Check out the Fort Buenaventura Mountain Men page to see upcoming dates for the rendezvous and buckskinner day.  Did you know that Ogden is Utah's oldest town? Read about it here.

If you want to step back in time even further, take this hike to the Butler Wash Ruins.