I visited both Fort Worden and Fort Flagler (over on Marrowstone Island) in the same day, doing Flagler first and then Worden. By the time I got to Worden, it was early afternoon and the entire place was pretty busy. Flagler had been the opposite! Fort Worden is definitely set up to maximize park usage, which certainly works to its advantage for upkeep and revenue, but for a history buff tourist like me, I prefer a little less crowd. My wife & I went to see the historic fortifications, the Puget Sound Coast Artillery museum, and the Point Wilson lighthouse. Unfortunately, the only fortifications you can get to by car are Battery Kinzie (which was very crowded, since it is right next to the RV campground, beach, and science centers) and Battery Vicars (which is small and not notable really). The hike to get from the parking area to the other, more secluded fortifications is just under a mile - not really something I was interested in doing after hiking around Fort Flagler for three hours that same morning. And finding that route was tough since there was no signage pointing vehicles to that side of the park. So, we skipped the outlying batteries, and only visited Kinzie and Vickers. Kinzie is really big and impressive, with a fantastically beautiful view of the surrounding cliffs, so despite there being folks shouting and carrying on inside, it was still worthwhile.

Point Wilson lighthouse was unfortunately closed for filming, but looked neat from a distance. There was a group of people fencing on the beach, I'd never seen THAT activity on the beach before! There ended up being two museums down near the parade ground that I thought looked interesting, the Coast Artillery museum I had planned for, and a tour of an Officer's Quarters - but both had short business hours, and I was unable to squeeze both into an afternoon. Each is managed separately and has its own cost.

The Coast Artillery museum was good, not as good as the Fort Flagler Historical Museum but broader in scope and with interesting artifacts from throughout US military history. The room with information on how Puget Sound, Seattle, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca was defended during WWII and the Cold War is the most interesting part. The museum is within an old barracks, so the space isn't conducive to a typical museum flow, the customer service desk is between the two galleries so you have to pass back and forth to see everything. There was a guided tour of the museum going on, but from what I heard, it wasn't worth spending the time on - the guide was basically just saying what was on the signs, and the tour was barely through the first room by the time I was done with both galleries - and it had already started when I arrived! There is a small entrance fee, and they have books for sale on a variety of interesting military history & local history topics.

Overall, the museum was the highlight, and worth the visit alone - but again, if choosing between Worden & Flagler, I'd recommend Flagler & its museum over this one. As with any other Washington State Park, you need to have a park pass - which you can buy on-site for $10 for the day, or $30 for the year (and it covers all Washington parks). Consult the Washington State Parks website for specific location, some parks have both machines that take credit cards and a visitors center option, some only have the machines.