On forested hills surrounding the nation's capital are the remnants of a complex system of Civil War fortifications. These strategic buttresses transformed the young capital into one of the world's most fortified cities. By 1865, 68 forts and 93 batteries armed with over 800 cannons encircled Washington, DC. Today, you can visit 18 of the original sites now managed by the National Park Service.
What you’ll hear
75 places to explore in this park.
- 122nd New York Volunteer Infantry Monument
- 150th Ohio National Guard Infantry Monument
- 15-inch Rodman Cannon
- 25th New York Volunteer Cavalry Monument
- 98th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument
- Battery (Fort) Ricketts
- Battery Kemble
- Battery Kemble: flag pole location
- Battery Ricketts
- Battleground National Cemetery
- Battleground National Cemetery: Gettysburg Address Plaque
- Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War Monument
- Fort Bayard
- Fort Bayard Park
- Fort Bayard Park: ball field
- Fort Bunker Hill
- Fort Bunker Hill Park: CCC Amphitheater
- Fort Bunker Hill Park: picnic area
- Fort Bunker Hill: Plaque
- Fort Carroll
- Fort Chaplin
- Fort Davis
- Fort Davis Plaque
- Fort DeRussy
- Fort Dupont
- Fort Dupont Community Gardens
- Fort Dupont Historic Earthwork picnic area
- Fort Dupont Randle Circle picnic area
- Fort Dupont Ridge picnic area
- Fort Dupont Summer Theater
- Fort Foote
- Fort Foote Bombproof Magazine remains
- Fort Foote Park
- Fort Greble and Fort Carroll
- Fort Greble Park
- Fort Mahan
- Fort Marcy
- Fort Reno
- Fort Reno Park: soccer field
- Fort Reno: Stone & Plaque
- Fort Slocum
- Fort Slocum Park
- Fort Slocum Park: picnic pavilion
- Fort Stanton
- Fort Stevens
- Fort Stevens community garden
- Fort Stevens magazine
- Fort Stevens Park
- Fort Totten
- Fort Totten Picnic Area
- Fort Totten: Plaque
- Information Panel: A Field of Many Battles
- Information Panel: Battleground National Cemetery
- Information Panel: Battleground National Cemetery: An Act to Establish and to Protect National Cemeteries
- Information Panel: Battleground National Cemetery: General Orders No.80
- Information Panel: Battleground National Cemetery: Roll Call
- Information Panel: Battleground National Cemetery: Rostrum
- Information Panel: Fort DeRussy
- Information Panel: Fort DeRussy-2
- Information Panel: Fort Slocum
- Information Panel: Fort Stevens
- Information Panel: Fort Totten
- Interpretive Panel: Another Shot
- Interpretive Panel: Capital View
- Interpretive Panel: Engineering Evolution
- Interpretive Panel: Ironclad Killer
- Interpretive Panel: Load. Ready. Fire!
- Interpretive Panel: New Forts for a New War
- Interpretive Panel: Reporting for Duty
- Interpretive Panel: Welcome to Fort Foote
- Major General George B. McClellan Statue
- Orientation Panel: Walk the Bluff
- Shepherd Parkway
- Trailhead: Fort DeRussy Trail and White Horse Trail
- VI Army Corps Monument
Hear it on Trailtold
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