• Beach walkway to white sandy beach and bluegreen waters

    Gulf Islands

    National Seashore FL,MS

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  • Partial Closure on Horn Island

    Small portion of Horn Island, Mississippi, closed to entry due to discovery of asbestos and possible other bio hazards. Click on more for map and press release. More »

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    Restrooms, and Visitor Center closures due to the impact of Seqestration. More »

Fort Barrancas

The drawbridge at Fort Barrancas crosses over a dry moat.
Historic Fort Barrancas, constructed between 1839-1844, was one of four forts built to protect the Pensacola Navy Yard.
nps photo

The Fort Barrancas Area is on Taylor Road approximately a half mile east from the Museum of Naval Aviation.  The area includes the historic Water Battery, Fort Barrancas, trails, visitor center, picnic areas, and the Advanced Redoubt.

Fort Barrancas sits on a bluff overlooking the entrance to Pensacola Bay. The natural advantages of this location have inspired engineers of three nations to build forts. The British built the Royal Navy Redoubt here in 1763 of earth and logs. The Spanish built two forts here around 1797. Bateria de San Antonio was a masonry water battery at the foot of the bluff. Above it was earth and log Fort San Carlos de Barrancas. American engineers remodeled the Water Battery in 1840 and built a masonry fort on the bluff between 1839 and 1844, connected by a tunnel to the Water Battery. This is the current Fort Barrancas. A $1.2 million, eighteen-month restoration project led to its reopening in 1980.

Scheduled tours of Fort Barrancas are daily at 2:00 p.m. and at the Advanced Redoubt every Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

Fort Barrancas and the visitor center is open March-October at 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and November-February at 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Please call 850-455-5167 for more information.  

 

 
A view of the white-washed Water Battery overlooking Pensacola Bay.
Water Battery at Fort Barrancas overlooks Pensacola Bay.
nps photo

Bateria de San Antonio stands today at the base of the barranca, or bluff, just below Fort Barrancas. While retaining some of the Spanish ornamentation, the current structure includes a rifle gallery and rear wall added by U. S. Army engineers. An underground passage connects the Water Battery to Fort Barrancas. 

Did You Know?

WWII dog trainers at Cat Island, Mississippi located at Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Because of the tropical-like conditions, the U. S. Army established the Cat Island War Dog Training Camp in south Mississippi during World War II. A variety of dog breeds were trained to guard, deliver messages, and attack the enemy. Cat Island is part of Gulf Islands National Seashore.