Morrison, Colorado: The Fort

They have set up a wonderful outside seating option for lunch that overlooks the wide valley. It is well shaded, and catches a lovely, steady breeze. It's a COVID response, but staff say it's been so popular, they may keep it up permanently! And though they sound really strange, give the peanut butter stuffed jalapenos a try. They are tasty!

Eat real frontier food inside an adobe fort! This restaurant in the red rocks near Morrison was originally built in 1963 as the home of Sam Arnold, who to pay it off decided to open it to everyone as a restaurant and has kept inviting everyone in since. It is a true replica of Bent's Fort, the frontier trading fort along the Santa Fe trail in southeastern Colorado. When the National Park Service sought to build a replica Bent's Fort at the original site they consulted Arnold for tips on how to build it. Inside you will find a restaurant that is truly authentic in frontier decor and cuisine. Among this restaurant's many famous guests were the leaders of the Summit of the Eight in 1997, and not every place you can go to is one where the Clintons ate rattlesnake!

The Fort's designer was a prominent Santa Fe architect, Bill Lumpkins. Arnold's builders used the red earth of its vicinity and straw to make The Fort's 80,000 adobe bricks. They used ox blood to seal the tile floors. You can take a wild guess how the tiles got to be red!