WaStatePks100: Fort Flagler Traditional Geocache
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WaStatePks100: Fort Flagler
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(regular)
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Fort Flagler State Park is located on Marrowstone Point on the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula near Port Townsend. Flagler is a 784-acre marine camping park surrounded on three sides by nearly 20,000 feet of saltwater shoreline. The park rests on a high bluff overlooking Puget Sound with panoramic views of the Olympic and Cascade Mountains. Many historic buildings remain at this military fort that was established during the 19th century. Fort Flagler, along with the heavy batteries of Fort Worden and Fort Casey, once guarded Admiralty Inlet, the nautical entrance to Puget Sound. These posts, established in the late 1890's, became the first line of defense in a fortification system designed to prevent a hostile fleet from reaching such targets as the Bremerton Naval Yard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett.
The pace of changing technology will be apparent as you explore the military history of Fort Flagler. Only a few decades before this fort’s 1899 activation, men waged war by charging across fields with muskets. Within a few years of its opening, Flagler had state-of-the-art “disappearing” guns that could spring out of their bunkers and hide away for loading and reloading. These guns were rendered obsolete with the arrival of aircraft and long-range guns on battleships. By World War II, Flagler was primarily a training fort. The fort closed in 1953 and was purchased as a state park in 1955, named after Brigadier General Daniel Webster Flagler.
History is not the only feature that makes this park memorable. Fort Flagler is filled with wildlife and boasts old growth forest untouched since the fort’s construction. The beaches at Fort Flagler are another highlight that make this spectacular park the hidden gem of the state park system.
Park Hours
Summer: 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Winter: 8 a.m. to dusk
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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