Be sure to check out Wolf Creek directly outside the site entrance. You can park near the entrance gate and walk back to the bridge. 

Exposed to the wind, within a sweeping valley of short grass prairie, amid the swales of the Santa Fe Trail, lie the territorial-style adobe remnants of the largest 19th-century military fort in the region. For forty years, 1851-1891, Fort Union functioned as an agent of political and cultural change, whether desired or not, in New Mexico and throughout the Southwest.

The park is 721 acres and includes two units. The main unit includes the second fort, a Civil War earthwork, and the adobe building ruins of the third fort, built in 1862. An 84-acre detached unit a mile to the west of the main site encompasses a part of the historic grounds of the first Fort Union and also contains the adobe ruins and foundations of the arsenal connected with the third fort.

Throughout the year Fort Union is home to many species of wildlife. Visitors may see snakes, including Prairie Rattlers and Bull Snakes, a wide variety of birds, Pronghorn Antelope, Cottontail and Jack Rabbits, Coyotes, Ground Squirrels, and lizards.

The Visitor Center is open from 8 am to 4 pm. Handicapped parking spaces for standard-sized vehicles are available in the Visitor Center parking area. Several "oversized" parking spaces in the parking lot can accommodate campers, buses, and large RVs. Brochures are available outside the visitor center doors from 8 am to 4 pm.

A 1.25-mile walk on the self-guided interpretive trail will take visitors through the entire fort.

Visitors may opt for a shorter, 0.5-mile walk on the same trail that will take them through a portion of the fort.