Panama
Fort Sherman
Jungle warfare bunkers sinking into rainforest where monkeys colonised the barracks the Americans left behind.
Roots split the concrete floor of what was once a barracks. A howler monkey calls from the rooftop of an abandoned mess hall, its voice rolling through empty corridors where American soldiers once trained for jungle warfare. Fort Sherman smells of damp concrete and decomposing leaves. The forest is winning, and it is not even close.
Fort Sherman operated until 1999 as the US Army's Jungle Operations Training Center, where soldiers were prepared for tropical combat before deployment to Vietnam, Colombia, and Central America. Since the American handover, the bunkers, barracks, and firing ranges have been reverting to jungle at a visible pace — roots splitting walls, canopy reclaiming rooftops, vines threading through window frames. Howler monkeys have colonised the empty buildings, their dawn chorus echoing through the compound. The base occupies the tip of the Colón Peninsula, with Caribbean sea views from the old gun platforms and Soberanía National Park directly adjacent.
Solo
Exploring Fort Sherman alone amplifies the atmosphere — the empty barracks, the monkey calls, the creeping jungle. Solo visitors can move at their own pace through the ruins, lingering where the forest's reclamation is most dramatic.
Friends
The sheer scale of the abandoned base rewards exploration in a small group. Splitting up to scout different sectors and reconvening with stories of what you found turns the visit into a shared expedition through Cold War decay.
- Fort Sherman operated until 1999 as the US Army's Jungle Operations Training Center — where American soldiers were prepared for tropical combat, leaving behind a full-scale jungle warfare installation.
- Since the US handover, the bunkers, barracks, and firing ranges have been reverting to jungle; the process is visible at every structure, with roots splitting concrete and canopy reclaiming rooftops.
- Howler monkeys have colonised the empty buildings — their calls echo through the barracks at dawn, audible from the road before you enter the compound.
- The base occupies the tip of the Colón Peninsula, with Caribbean sea views from the old gun platforms and Soberanía National Park directly adjacent.
Pack provisions — the ruins offer nothing but atmosphere and howler monkeys.
Colón's Caribbean fondas serve rice with coconut, fried fish, and platano maduro.
Pan bon from Colón's Afro-Antillean bakeries before the expedition into the jungle.
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