Cove Fort is located at the junction of the 1-15 and the 1-70. Cove Fort was constructed as a protection for travelers from the Native Americans, as well as a telegraph office, post office, and inn. In 1867, Brigham Young asked Ira Hinckley (President Gordon B. Hinckley’s grandfather) to construct a fort along the Old Spanish Trail. Ira moved his family to Cove Fort where they lived for many years. There was never a shot fired at Cove Fort and the residents actually had great relations with the Native Americans.
Start with the Movie
When you visit Cove Fort today, there are LDS missionaries who take you on a tour of the fort. You begin by watching a short film in the cabin that Ira Hinckley had built in Coalville and where he planned to raise his family. It was moved to the property when the area was restored.
Tour Cove Fort
After the information film, which gives background on the fort, you enter Cove Fort and make your way through the different rooms. There are 12 rooms (6 on the north and 6 on the south). The rooms on the south are mostly working rooms. There is one for the post office, one for the telegraph, a large kitchen, a sewing room, and a laundry room. There is also a small bedroom for the children. One the north side of the fort, there are rooms for people who came to visit the fort and bedrooms for the family who lived there. There are tons of pioneer artifacts, and our tour guide gave us lots of interesting facts about the way that pioneers lived.
You will also get a chance to climb up on the battlement and look through the “windows,” which were actually places to shoot your rifles. This was our boys favorite part. They like to pretend to be soldiers, not pioneers.
Walk Around the Grounds
Make sure to walk around the outside of Cove Fort. There are some other fun things like the huge barn and the derrick. We really liked the old stagecoach that everyone was able to climb into and imagine riding across the plains. They have an old blacksmith shop in the back and you can look into the barn. We spent a few minutes exploring the outside of the fort.
There is a large grassy area with huge trees and picnic tables if you want to bring a lunch, as well as restrooms back where you watched the movie. Cove Fort is a great stop on your drive through Utah. If you are looking for other LDS Church History sites, we have a list of them all over Utah.
