CFB Travel Guy

In the early years of Army football, the team had no nickname. They were just Army.

When they marched on to the field in their black wool uniforms, it created stark contrast with the imposing, castle-like gray stone buildings that make up the West Point campus. The team, like the Academy it represented, was fierce. Tough. Intimidating. Formidable.

Eventually, the media began referring to the team as the “Black Knight of the Hudson,” owing to the team’s black uniforms and the institution’s location along the Hudson River Valley. This was later shortened to the simple “Black Knights” we know today.

After watching the Black Knights take down Tulane on a Friday night to capture the American Athletic Conference championship, I woke up early to fully tour the Academy’s campus, a multi-tiered fortress built into the hillside overlooking the Hudson.

From the chapel to the barracks to The Plain, Army’s signature gray granite architecture stands as a timeless and awe-inspiring backdrop befitting the many heroes and legends who were trained at the institution.

As you might expect, the grounds are littered with monuments and memorials to past military leaders:

The biggest showstopper, though, is the views of the Hudson River from Trophy Point:

While individual pictures don’t do justice to the beauty of the architecture and setting — or the uneven hillside terrain that makes traversing the campus a boot camp all its own — here’s a gallery of pictures from around campus:

After famous author Charles Dickens visited West Point, he opined that the campus “… could not stand on more appropriate ground, and any ground more beautiful can hardly be.”

He’s right. There is no setting more gorgeous or fitting for the Long Gray Line than this hillside fortress on the banks of the Hudson. It’s a campus that should be on every college football fan’s bucket list.

GO ARMY!