Fort Logan

Fort Logan sits in Denver's far southwest, one of six neighborhoods in the city's Far Southwest planning area along with College View-South Platte, Harvey Park, Harvey Park South, Bear Valley and Marston. The old fort grounds are off Oxford Avenue, and Bear Creek Park and the national cemetery are both close by.

An Army post on Bear Creek

General Philip Sheridan picked this spot in 1887 for its height and the flat ground he wanted for a parade ground, and the first soldiers camped on Bear Creek that October. Locals called it Fort Sheridan until 1889, when the Army named it for General John A. Logan, who started Decoration Day, now Memorial Day.

The post closed in May 1946. In 1960 the state took 236 acres for a mental health center, which still runs as a state psychiatric hospital. Denver annexed the land around the fort in pieces, including Pinehurst in December 1969 after several years of boundary fights with Jefferson County.

Officers' row and the Field Officer's Quarters

The officers' houses still ring the oval parade ground: red-brick Victorians with basement wine cellars, brick window wells and sandstone sidewalks. The parade ground gets used for soccer.

The Field Officer's Quarters, finished in 1889 from Army architect Frank J. Grodavent's plans, was a six-bedroom house for a major or higher. The Friends of Historic Fort Logan run it as a free museum at 3742 W. Princeton Circle, open 1 to 3 p.m. on the third Saturday of most months (not December). Princeton is one-way, so park on the left side only.

Ranches, split-levels and a lot of hills

This is mostly a postwar and late-century neighborhood. Of its roughly 2,200 detached houses, 84 percent were built between 1960 and 1999 and 15 percent between 1940 and 1959, with next to nothing from before 1940 or after 2000. The median house is about 1,720 square feet. If you want a newer build, there's very little of it here, so expect to compare updated houses against original ones.

The cemetery and Bear Creek Park

Fort Logan National Cemetery, at 4400 W. Kenyon Ave., was authorized by Congress in 1950 and has grown to 214 acres. There's a six-acre lake, and a small flag goes on every grave the Sunday before Memorial Day. Jogging, biking, picnicking and dogs aren't allowed, so count it as a quiet view, not a park.

For actual park time, Bear Creek Park covers about 90 acres, with the Southwest YMCA, ballfields and a sombrero playground. The Bear Creek Trail starts here and runs about 16 miles toward Lakewood. A realignment through the park, with a 12-foot concrete path and a new bridge on the west side, is scheduled to start construction this fall and finish in fall 2027. Expect detours if you walk or ride it in the meantime.

Eating out means the edges

There aren't restaurants inside Fort Logan itself. The closest name worth the trip is Eternal Flavors Bakery, at 5600 W. Dartmouth Ave. in neighboring Bear Valley. It sells the Spring Fling cake, a zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit, and Westword named it the best bakery for cakes in 2023. For a game on TV, Monaghan's Bar and Grill at 3889 S. King St., just across the line in the city of Sheridan, is a no-frills bar that 5280 recommends for Broncos Sundays, with wings, jalapeño poppers and cheese fries.

Getting around

US 285 was cut through the area in 1960. With no restaurants or shops inside the neighborhood, plan on a car for most errands.