Reduced Operating Hours

Signed and issued May 6, 2025

Pursuant to 36 CFR § 1.5, the National Park Service (NPS) is implementing a reduced operating schedule for the Visitor Center at Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Beginning May 18, 2025, the Visitor Center will be open only on Sundays and Mondays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and closed Tuesday through Saturday. This schedule will extend through the end of November 2025.

 

Record of Determination of a Reduced Operating Schedule for theFort Bowie National Historic Site Visitor Center

Pursuant to 36 CFR § 1.5, the National Park Service (NPS) is implementing a reduced operating schedule for the Visitor Center at Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Beginning May 18, 2025, the Visitor Center will be open only on Sundays and Mondays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and closed Tuesday through Saturday. This schedule will extend through the end of November 2025.

All other facilities including parking lots, trails, bathrooms, and access to historic structures will remain open to the public seven days a week. On December 1, 2025, the Visitor Center will return to its standard winter operating schedule.

The temporary operating schedule change is due to low visitation during summer months and reduced volunteer staff. While in effect, this change improves staffing flexibility across the Southeast Arizona Group of national park sites. Park information and passport stamps will remain available to visitors seven days per week throughout this period.This closure restricts access during specified days to the interior of the Visitor Center, which includes displays of objects, photos, and narratives of the Fort Bowie grounds and associated nearby locations. The Western National Parks Association (WNPA) bookstore will also be closed Tuesday through Saturday during this temporary period.

Access to a WNPA bookstore and NPS staff is available at the nearby Chiricahua National Monument Visitor Center seven days per week from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The temporary closure will not require a long-term or significant modification in the resource management objectives of Fort Bowie National Historic Site.

Accordingly, pursuant to 36 CFR § 1.5(b), publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register is unnecessary and unwarranted. This determination is consistent with past partial and temporary park closures or public use limitations in the NPS Intermountain Region.

Pursuant to 36 CFR § 1.7, notice of the closure will be made through physical posting, electronic communication, and by park staff direction. This Record of Determination is available upon request.

Date May 6, 2025
Superintendent Kelly Fuhrmann