Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

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Over the last few weeks we’ve been restricted to what we’re allowed to do and how far we can travel. I’m definitely a support of the #stayhomestaysafe and adhere to it but when I keep seeing my Facebook memories or the ones that Google Photos does – it reminds me of all the fun we’ve had in the past.

We are fortunate to live by the ocean – not right by it, we’re between an hour and a half to two-hour drive depending on which beach we go to. One reason that I love the Oregon and Washington beaches is that they provide so many fun adventures for families like in Fort Stevens Oregon. Plus a lot of these activities can be done for free or low cost.

One such place is Ft. Stevens in Oregon by Astoria. Last year we decided to visit it because we were staying a few days at the local Astoria KOA.

The cost of this was pretty reasonable. I paid $5 to park. Not bad for an educational experience.

Since I homeschool my son we like to go to places that provide ways for us to learn new things.

I unschool (child lead learning) some of the “common core” subjects and then there are other subjects that I make sure that we get structured curriculum on.

But doing field trips is a great way for kids to learn and so we take advantage of the rich history in our area – the forts on the coast are one of them and we’ve been going to quite a few this year.

To start our tour we had to stop and take a selfie. 

Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

Take the Fort Stevens Oregon Walking Tour

– Meriwether Lewis

When you first arrive at Fort Stevens you’re given a map and then directed to where you’ll need to park.

You’ll have to walk to see all of the buildings. For the most part, it was stroller and wheelchair friendly with big paths. They are gravel though.

The museum is one of the first buildings but we decided to start walking down the path. There is a small part of the fort that you’re allowed to go into and explore. We went there first.

Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures
Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

The first building we walked to you can explore.

The Meriwether Lewis structure is farther up the path.

Meriwether Lewis Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures
Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

This is one of the structures that is still up at Ft. Stevens Oregon. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to go into most of them because of the decay, so they are roped off.

Then we walked to the Steam Plant building below. You get to go inside and explore it a little. It is small, but very interesting to go inside and take a look.

Steam Plant Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

Darien had a lot of fun exploring this building.

Below is the steam engine inside the steam plant.

Steam Engine Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

After we walked around Fort Stevens Oregon we went to explore the front of the museum, as well as the museum itself.

This jeep was fun for Darien to play on and I’m sure it is a big hit for other children as well. Definitely a way for them to take a break.

Military Jeep Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

He had to take it out for a drive. Haha. It doesn’t go anywhere but he still had fun climbing inside and pretending. He’s not the only one who had to check it out – I took a drive with him as well.

Military Jeep Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

.The step up was really high and then it wasn’t like a regular car – there was a lip that made it a little more difficult to get in. It made me think that the military people had to be really agile to quickly hop in and out of these vehicles.

At the end of our tour we went into the museum.

Museum Fort Stevens Oregon Adventures

The museum was definitely worth stopping at if you get a chance.

We didn’t get to see the entire fort grounds because we were in Astoria with friends and they had a prior commitment and when they were done we headed out of Astoria to go to the Seaside Aquarium.

We were there about 45 minutes but I’d suggest a little more time to see everything – closer to 2 or 3 hours. I think with that amount of time you’d get to walk all the grounds, as well as check out the museum.

~April

P.S. Do you want to check out Fort Stevens Oregon history? Check out VisitFtStevens.com

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10 Comments

    1. April Lemarr April 6, 2020 at 6:26 pm

      Thank you Victoria.

  1. Amrita April 6, 2020 at 6:21 pm

    We love exploring old forts and museums too.Children really enjoy such trips.

    1. April Lemarr April 6, 2020 at 6:26 pm

      Amrita,

      I’ve discovered that as well. One of the forts on the coast has bats and my son absolutely loved that. Haha.

      ~April

  2. Julie April 6, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    I’ve been to one Oregon beach after my aunt died and it was beautiful. There was a lighthouse and I love lighthouses. We will be able to adventure again. Hold tight and think how much more we will appreciate it later.

    1. April Lemarr April 7, 2020 at 10:41 pm

      Hi Julie,

      Yes, the lighthouses in Oregon are amazing. We’ve been to a couple of them. Three years ago we drove down the Oregon coast and got to see some at a distance. Unfortunatley the one that we stopped at wasn’t open and we had a schedule to keep.

      I’m sure we’ll drive down the coast again because it was so beautiful.

      I’m sorry to hear about your aunt. My mom died a few years ago.

      ~April

  3. Paul Taubman April 7, 2020 at 1:34 am

    What a great place! Your pictures reminded me of Fort Pickens in Pensacola, FL.

    And what a great way to teach your son! I love it! FIrst time I heard of the term, “unschool” – yes!!!

    1. April Lemarr April 7, 2020 at 10:39 pm

      Hi Paul,

      We’d like to travel to Florida one of these days but so far we haven’t made it that far south. Although we’ve been to Maui a couple of times to visit friends.

      There are a lot of different ways to homeschool and unschooling is one of them. You’ll also find that people define unschooling differently. 🙂

      ~April

  4. Nancy Smith April 7, 2020 at 12:34 pm

    Hi April,

    It’s my first time reading your blog. Loved it…I enjoy places like this. Definitely going to put Oregon and Washington on our vacation list. (I’ve always wanted to go North anyway to see the whales come through in September). That would be amazing! We’ve talked about going that way for a few years – haven’t made it yet though.
    I’ve been to a few Forts here in Texas and the history…wow – it’s amazing to think about what took place there. Being a genealogist and learning of my great grandfathers and others fighting the Civil War, etc. – forts are at the top of my list.

    Thanks for sharing!

    1. April Lemarr April 7, 2020 at 10:37 pm

      Hi Nancy,

      Thank you for the compliment. 🙂

      We enjoy going to places like the forts in our area as well. We have several along with the Oregon and Washington Coast, as well as amazing lighthouses.

      You should definitely come up North and visit the Pacific Northwest – we have some beautiful country.

      ~April

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