Cove Fort — Attraction in Utah

The site for Cove Fort was selected by Brigham Young because of its location about halfway between Fillmore, then the capital of the Utah Territory, and the nearest city, Beaver. It provided a way station for people traveling the Mormon Road. A town would have been constructed at the Cove Fort site, but the water supply was inadequate to support a sizable population. Another key factor in the selection of the site was the prior existence of a wooden-palisade fort, Willden Fort. The fort is a square, 100 ft on each side. The walls are constructed of black volcanic rock and dark limestone, both quarried from the nearby mountains. The walls are 18 ft high and 4 ft thick at the base, tapering to 2 ft thick at the top. The fort has two sets of large wooden doors at the east and west ends, originally filled with sand to stop arrows and bullets, and contains 12 interior rooms. As a daily stop for two stagecoach lines, as well as many other travelers, Cove Fort was heavily used for many years, often housing and feeding up to 75 people at a time. In addition to providing a place to rest, a blacksmith & farrier resided at the fort, who shod horses and oxen, and also repaired wagon wheels. With its telegraph office and as a Pony Express stop, it also acted as a regional communications hub.

The site was closed when I stopped but I was able to walk around the outside and check it out. Jeff Mullins Photography Adventures. Get...

We visited the Old Cove Fort on Tuesday, May 27th. There were several couples serving there and the were really excited to show us around and explain things to us. We watched a short video that gave us the background information on why it was built and what it was used for. The video and the fort, itself, are very rich in history!

We were able to walk into the entry doors of the rooms and see the original furnishings, and things were explained on placards in each room. It felt as though we had gone back in time. We were even offered a paper and pencil that had things to search for and check off in each room. This would be really great for kids of all ages. I'm a 61 year old kid and I had a wonderful time. There was only 1 item I didn't see! 😁

Everything is so clean there. The grounds are beautiful and kept up. There was a large place for picnicking on the grounds... room enough for several families. We were happy to find very nice and clean restrooms.

There is a garden there where vegetables and fruits are grown and it is tended carefully. One sister picked radishes while we were there and offered us some. It was so fun!

Everyone was welcoming and seemed genuinely happy that we stopped to visit.

I highly recommend this as a stop not to be missed❣️ It's just right off of I-15 so you won't lose extra time on your...

I had a great time with my kids touring this historic Fort! I'm so glad we stopped here. It's right off the freeway and easy to find. There is a great short film that you can watch before or after touring the Fort that I really enjoyed. In another review someone said the movie is an hour long which isn't true, it's not even 15 minutes long. He also said that you have to watch the movie before going into the fort which isn't true either, we watched it after our tour of the Fort. I think it just depends on if the Fort is full of tours then you'd need to watch the film first. When we got there the movie was full so we started with the tour. It really doesn't matter either way. The Fort itself is really well maintained and is staffed by several volunteer missionary guides who really know their history. The bathrooms were clean and there was plenty of parking. It was pretty windy and we learned from the missionaries serving there that it is always windy here so bring coats or something in the colder months. The missionaries also recommended we visit the Fremont Indian State Park about 15 miles south east from the Fort. We loved that too! Overall, we have no complaints! A...