Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens is located on the western end of Santa Rosa Island, near Pensacola Beach. Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Dennis (2005) caused extensive damage to the modern buildings and roads on the island. Fortunately there was little damage to the actual fort.

Road reconstruction began in November of last year (2008) and is expected to be finished by late spring or early summer. Until then you can walk to the fort, staying on the beach. That's a seven mile walk - one way. But what a great walk that is. You can have the beach practically to yourselves, and see some beautiful scenery and sea life, unlike very many places in the world. And the closer you get to Fort Pickens the less people that you going to see.

Another way to get to Fort Pickens is by boat, and there are numerous charter services and boat taxis that will drop you off and pick you up. Prices vary greatly, depending on the type of watercraft and service, so do some comparison shopping.

UPDATE: AFTER FIVE YEARS THE ROAD IS NOW OPEN!

When Fort Pickens does open to automobile traffic, there will be a "per vehicle fee." Before it was closed to traffic the fee was $8.00, valid for one week.

My wife and I have walked this beach many times. Even before the hurricanes there was very activity on this seven mile stretch, especially during weekdays.

A wide variety of wildlife inhabits this area. Armadillos, raccoons, coyotes, opossums, skunks, bobcats, and many more animal species are not far from you, even if you can't see them. Most animals are very good at making you believe that they aren't there, but they are. The best time to spot wildlife in areas like this is early morning or just before dark. Do enough walking on the beach and you will see some of this elusive wildlife.

The animals that you will see almost all of the time are birds. Some of them are impressive, like the great blue heron. Others are small, but less common. Small migratory birds traveling from South America to points north rest here. In fact, over 280 bird species could be spotted if you have enough time.

The waters are often crystal clear, making it easy to see dolphins and sharks. Sometimes sharks will be amazingly close to the beach. On one walk, we "walked" with a bull shark for about a mile. I guess it was just going in our direction.

Sea turtles are common, but not often spotted. We have seen several on beach walks. Most of the time they come ashore at night, lay their eggs and leave before dawn. Occasionally, they are spotted swimming when the surf is fairly calm.

If you collect shells, the Fort Pickens area is one of the best places in the Florida panhandle for finding them. The main reason is there is less people picking them up. Early risers at the condos and hotels on the beaches get the ones that the tide washed in overnight. During the day, the person in front of you probably scooped up a shell that you could have been yours.

Fort Pickens is one of the the panhandle's favorite scuba diving sites. Before the hurricanes took the roads out, scuba diving schools taught classes there. My wife and I signed up for one of those classes. I had to drop out because my sinus' couldn't withstand the pressure. She graduated with flying colors and brought me up a huge sand dollar on her first drive.

Fort Pickens was built, along with three other forts, to defend Pensacola Bay. Construction began in 1829, and the fort received its first troops on October 4, 1834. Over 21.5 million bricks were used in the construction, but the brick walls, built to withstand the cannon balls fired from wooden ships, were obsolete by the end of the Civil War in 1865.

The Confederacy lost the fortress before the Civil War even began, and it remained under the control of Union forces until the war was over.

From October 1886 to May 1887, Chief Geronimo and a number of other captured Apaches were imprisoned at Fort Pickens. The City of Pensacola had successfully lobbied the U.S. government to send the Apache chief to the fort. This was quite a coup for Pensacola. Geronimo became a tourist attraction, and drew much national attention to the area. An average of 20 visitors a day came to watch him perform manual labor. Geronimo might have been Pensacola's first tourist draw.

The old brick walls were replaced in the 1890's. Between 1897 and 1899, concrete fortifications were constructed to withstand advances in weapons technology.

Fort Pickens was abandoned by the military in 1947 when the government deemed that weapons technology had advanced to the point that coastal forts no longer served any useful purpose. It had served the country for 188 years.

On January 8, 1971, Fort Pickens became a part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, maintained by the National Park Service.

Fort Pickens, Florida is about 50 miles from Gulf Shores. Take Highway 182 (beach hwy) until it turns into Highway 292 at the Florida line. Take Highway 399 over the Pensacola Bay Bridge into Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach and then follow the signs.

Fort Pickens on eBay