Fort Clinch: Visit One Of Florida's First State Parks

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Recently (haha, like months ago) I posted about shelling at Fort Clinch and was all ready to do a post about the fort.

Then I didn’t. But here I am, finally writing about the fort at Fort Clinch State Park, my favorite fort in Florida so far, and one of my favorite state parks in Florida.

I’ve been here twice now and while I’m not what I would consider even close to a history buff, it’s a really cool fort!

It’s a typical(?) fort with the wall around the outside, some buildings in the middle and a variety of types of rooms built into the wall.

There isn’t really an easy way to go through it (it’s also not difficult) just because it’s kind of winding in the way everything connects.

There are tons of little side tunnel.. things? And rooms with stairs that go to the top of the wall and some passages between the walls but also sort of on top.

It’s really hard to explain but it’s really fun. Fun feels like the wrong word but it’s the best I’ve got right now.

Some of the rooms are empty and others, like the bunks and offices, are set up how they would have been when the fort was in use.

One of the times I went they had a fire going in the open area in the middle because it was pretty chilly out.

Sometimes they have people dressed up in garb they would have been wearing at the time, and sometimes they have reenactments.

If you’re on the fence about visiting Fort Clinch, I would definitely say give it a shot!

Travel Services I Recommend:
AllTrails – This is my favorite hike tracking app.
America the Beautiful – The national park pass is essential.
Booking.com – This is great for finding and booking hotels.
Get Your Guide – I recommend Get Your Guide for booking tours.
National Park Obsessed – This is the best national park planner.
Skyscanner – Skyscanner is great for finding and booking flights.
Enterprise – This is my rental car recommendation.
See all my resources here.

What is Fort Clinch?

1736 marks the start of the fortification of Fort Clinch, but real construction on the fort we know today didn’t start until 1847 to protect the southern coast of Georgia.

It was under confederate control at the start of the Civil War, but General Robert E. Lee ordered evacuation as the Union started to gain control of the region, officially arriving in March of 1862.

More work was done on the fort but by 1869 when the war ended, it was left empty, until the start of the Spanish-American War in 1898 when it was put to use again, but only for another year.

In 1926 it was sold to a private buyer and began to crumble. Ten years later it became one of Florida’s first state parks and the Civilian Conservation Corps began it’s restoration.

However, it served one more mission as a joint operations center for surveillance and communications during WWII before being given back to the state and opening to the public.