Fort Pickens — Attraction in Santa Rosa Island

Ok, story time, its worth it. I'm going to admit I never knew about this place and we actually stumbled upon it while checking out Pensacola Beach while staying in destin. We were driving through and I saw the road went further west from Pensacola Beach on this little strip of island so I said let's follow it to the end, I mean, that's what road trips are about right?

So we keep driving and come up to the security gate for the national park, and we were about to turn around since it wasn't in our plans to visit and I had no idea what was there, but then I remembered I have a pass to all the national parks(worth looking into if you love hiking and forests) so we went on in.

We didn't know what to expect and it's about a 5-10 minute drive to get all the way to the end where the fort is but man-o-man is it worth it!

You can freely tour the fort and see just how intricately it was laid out, and no way could a ship see it from the gulf. They also do tours and I saw some guys dressed up in old uniforms so I think they do reenactments as well but you'll need to check. Like I said, we hadn't planned on being there, just stumbled upon it.

Anyways, almost the entire fort is accessible except for a battery across the street that is in bad shape from the environment. Did I mention they had BIG cannons there? You darn tootin they do! We got to see them up close and read about them. It's really worth reading the signs they setup around the fort.

There is a restroom(modern) on-site as well as water for sale in the gift shop. So after we finished checking out the main fort we circled around the edge where many people were fishing and headed back.

There are 2 more battery's on the way back with limited parking in each but if you can, they are worth the stop. These were the front line guns and cannon. There are two bigger batterys on the way back near the camping area that are also worth checking out. Oh yeah, There is also plenty of beach where you can go out and find shells and swim if you want.

The place is Beautiful and well worth a visit. Check out the pics for some more details and go see...

I bought a weeklong pass for this park on Monday, and am going for the third day in a row today. The natural landscape is gorgeous and mostly untouched by humans due to stringent conservation efforts. There's not a strong enough word for the wonder and awe inspired by being in these natural areas.

The visitor center has a wealth of information about the ecology and conservation of the area, as well as the historical significance of the fort. The interactive displays are suitable for a variety of ages and allow for access from the differently-abled via braille, audio, and tactile features of the displays.

There are several small areas sectioned off where people can park and walk down the pristine sands to enjoy the ocean in a more intimate, less crowded setting than the remainder of the beach areas of Santa Rosa island.

One of these areas, I discovered yesterday, can be reached by a boardwalk; however, the boardwalk (pictured above) is in an unfortunate state of disrepair and several people I encountered mentioned how hazardous the boardwalk is in its current state. Due to the nature of the boardwalk being located in an ever changing landscape, I do understand that repairs likely need to be made often; however, visitors should be made aware of the hazards before they get halfway through the climb to the shore and decide to take the risk out of...

Fort Pickens is the major attraction if you visit Pensacola. This 1854 Fort still has a lot to give! The best way to plan is to spend first half of the day in the beach, I chose Langdon beach as I have to anyway pay $25 for the park entrance which includes the beach and also it being much less crowded and glad my choice worked out so well! Its 10 min drive or less from Langdon beach to Ft Pickens welcome center and then few minutes to the fort entrance! MUST- see the sundown from the fort. Check out my photos to be amazed 😀!! Notes - some parts of the fort gets limited exposure to day lights so explore the fort before sundown. There are some real spooky spots and narrow tunnels to explore! The welcome center really doesn’t have anything interesting nor it house the gift shop. The gift shop is the book store at the right of the main entrance to the fort! there is a restroom at a minute walk towards the fishing pier outside the fort!

We explored the batteries the next day dask which is another adventure and check my review for the batteries if you wish so! Mostly ppl visit Fort and batteries on the same day but if your time permits do it on different days to see the sundown. I bet you won’t regret! Drive around by the pier at the dusk light and watch out the lighthouse over the water and fishing boats passing by the...