Quick summary: Well maintained fort with beautiful views. However the volunteer organization that handles visitors provides horrendous customer service, confusing information, and unimpressive tours.

In greater detail, this is a beautiful fortress. A great example of a smaller Third System (1830's onward) fortification that matches in design with the larger Fort Warren out in the bay. It is in very good repair, and the surrounding grounds are well maintained and have lots of recreational amenities, including restrooms, a fishing pier, and a large playground.

However the organization that runs the tours (The Castle Island Association) provides terrible visitor service. Hence the two star rating. For starters, their website a states the interior of the fort is open on weekends from 12:00-3:30pm. It also mentions that tours are given by volunteers. However it doesn't not state that the ONLY way to see the interior is to take a tour. If you are hoping to just wander the walls to channel your inner Civil War sentry, find another fort. The tours are only given at certain times and other wise the gate is closed. The fort is quite popular, so expect to wait in line for quite a while before getting in. Once you are inside the walls, you are corraled into one small corner until the tour launches if you wander away slightly, you get snapped at by some very rude volunteers. The tour has two options, the "short" tour of just the upper ramparts, or the "long" tour of some of the casemate rooms and the upper deck. The guide divided the people up by saying "If you can't pay attention, have a child, or just want some pretty pictures, go on the short tour. If you want to learn some history go on the long tour." I'm not sure if this was a joke, but it just came across as demeaning to large portion of the people visiting. The tour itself was lackluster at best. The guide had a basic but incomplete knowledge of fortresses, and a very poor speaking voice. It was hard to hear him even inside the rooms. He also tended to blow off visitor questions and was rude to the point of hostility to an enthusiastic 10 year old visitor. The tour was also trailed by another guide who was rudely insistent on visitors giving complete attention to the guide speaking even if they were just trying to take some pictures. This all seemed to contradict the introduction of "this is a really informal tour and you can ask questions whenever you want."

While the strict visitation rules perhaps contribute in some small fashion to the fantastic condition the fort is in, the overall impression I get is this Castle Island Association does not want people to actually visit and they would rather the structure exist as their private clubhouse. I feel this is a rather shameful use of a public resource. I can only hope Massachusetts DCR will take a larger roles in managing the site. If keeping it closed is necessary for safety or preservation, so be it, but it is far for better for a public entity to make that determination.

All this aside, if you want to see at fortress in Boston, skip Fort Independence. Cough up the cash to take the ferry out to Fort Warren. Much larger site, and much better tours run by Massachusetts State Park Rangers.