Overview

Hype:

This self-guided interpretive tour takes you past 17 points of interest in and around Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park.

Trail Condition: Class 1 (Trail is either paved or gravel. Navigation skills are not needed because there is only one trail or because there are signs. Elevation gains are gradual or there are stairs.)

Time: 20-30 minutes

Length: 0.5 miles round trip

Elevation Gain: Negligible

Fees: None

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Links: www.fortelizabeth.org

Getting There

Navigate to 21.952095, -159.663257.

Russian Fort Elizabeth is located right off highway 50 in Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii.

Route

1 - Fort Wall

The fort wall consists of an earthen embankment with a stacked basalt boulder face and rubble fill. There was no mortar used in the construction of this wall. The wall averages 12 feet in height and the fort is 300 feet in diameter.

2 - Site of Trading House

The trading house or factory was the first structure built at the fort. It was built to store the sandalwood used in the trade between the Russians and Hawaiians.

3 - Fort Entry

The entrance to the fort is narrow and separates the earlier Russian designed part of the fort on the seaward side from the later Hawaiian part on the side toward the mountains.

4 - Guardroom

This rock alignment is thought to be a remnant of the foundation for the guardroom built at the fort entrance.

5 - Magazine and Armory

An underground pit (10 feet square)·was dug and lined with adobe for the storage of munitions. The armory was a larger structure that enclosed the storage pit.

6 - Officer's Quarters

This alignment probably represents the foundation of the officer's quarters located along the northern wall of the fort. The foundation measures 15x7 feet.

7 - Barracks

The barracks was the largest structure in the fort, measuring 80x30 feet. The structure was built on top of this stone-lined platform.

8 - Housesite

These enclosure structures built along the fort wall appear to post-date the dismantling of the fort (1864) and are probably a Hawaiian housesite.

9 - Quarters

The foundations of these two buildings average 20x15 feet in size and both are located at the base of the stairs.

10 - Quarters

The foundations of these two buildings average 20x15 feet in size and both are located at the base of the stairs.

11 - Flagstaff

The flagstaff was the first structure completed within the fort. The flagpole was set into the depression in the center of the stacked rock platform.

12 - Stairs

Stairs were built into each star-like projection for access to the cannons set atop the fort wall.

13 - Cannon Emplacements

Cannons were placed at each projection on top of the fort wall. There were other cannons lined on the seaward exterior of the fort. These cannons were removed when the fort was dismantled.

14 - Russian Fort Design

These star-like projections on the seaward side of the fort reflect the European design of forts in the 17th Century. This seaward portion was probably the first area of the fort wall constructed.

15 - Mouth of the Waimea River

The first Western contact with Hawaii took place at the mouth of the Waimea River when Captain James Cook anchored there on January 20, 1778. The Hawaiians believed Cook to be their god Lono and prostrated themselves.

16- Whitney's House

This is where the house was built in 1820 for the Reverend Whitney when the missionaries arrived in Waimea. Whitney's house also served as schoolroom and place for public wonhip.

17 - Kaurnualii's Residence

Jackson recorded a number of stacked rock walls and the housesiteof King Kaumualii in this area on the seaward portion of the fort. This area was cleared for sugarcane cultivation before 1900.

Maps

Closest City or Region: Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park, Kauai, Hawaii

Coordinates: 21.952095, -159.663257

Interactive Guide Map

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Brochure

May 29, 2018 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye,

Story

At the end of a long day, we stopped at Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park on our way to our Airbnb. It was a fun little stop albeit a bit run down with a bunch of shady people hanging out in the parking lot. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but it looks like there are plans for adding a visitor center or something in the future.

Pictures