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    Fort Ward Park

    4.1 (21 reviews)

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    Double trouble
    Brian D.

    We have friends who live on the island and have taken us to many spots over the years, but this spot is pretty special. You can do a loop trail that will take you up a strenuous hill and through the woods, or stroll (like we did with our puppies) along the water and gaze at the mountains of the Olympic national forest. They have restrooms, and a few picnic tables along the water. Bainbridge offers so many sweet spots to hang out at, but this one is a favorite. It's not a place you'd go if you've wanted a long hike, but pack a lunch and make it a combo like we did. Side-note: share the bath with the bikers. On a busy day parking can be a challenge.

    Allan K.

    This was such a nice little park! It's amazing how many houses are nearby. We took the loop around the beach all the way to blakely harbor and back, it was about 4.5 miles with some wandering around. There is plenty of parking at all entrances, I can't imagine it being full, it seems to have more parking than trail. You do have to cross some roads, so if you're trying to be one with nature, it ain't really gonna work. But it's nice because you won't get lost! Alltrails says that it's aboit 500ft in elevation climb, the only climb was going up a steep path, then it's flat the rest of the way.

    A beautiful place to walk
    Sharon G.

    This is a great walking park. You are bordered on one side by a peaceful part of the Sound, and, on the other, by what appears to be a gazillion year-old almost-rain-forest, with many kinds of foliage and trees climbing the hillside. There is a trail that leads off this direction too. If you continue along the coastal part though, you have a beautiful view of the sunset in the evenings, with ferries coming in and out, and birds swooping down over the water.

    Beautiful horizon! Perched upon the old wooden posts is a row of crows.
    Shauna K.

    The waterfront here is ABSOLUTELY beautiful. You get a gorgeous view of the mountains, water and the best greenery the Pacific Northbest has to offer. I walked both the easy and medium trail from the main parking lot of the park with my 9 and 6 year old and they were both able to handle the terrain and slopes just fine. The medium trail from the parking lot does have a steep slope (albeit paved), but it was easy enough I could maneuver it wearing sandals. I wasn't aware of the terrain I would be walking when I RSVP'd for an event here or else I would have chosen different shoes! The trails and waterfront area are well kept and beautiful though and I would walk again it I flip flops if need be :) The reason for the 4 star review is there are multiple ways to access the waterfront portion of the park but it can be confusing (borderline difficult) if you aren't familiar with the area and don't have any helpful "locals" around to show you.

    Always B.

    I hiked the easy trail in a 45 minute period just before dusk. The trail was easy. I would have liked to wonder off of the path. I also wanted to hike the medium trail. Perhaps I will next time. This place has adequate restroom facilities.

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    Ask the Community - Fort Ward Park

    Review Highlights - Fort Ward Park

    Across the water is a spit of land in Bremerton (the residential part) and further to the western horizons are the Olympic mountains.

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    Grand Forest - Our dog loves this hike!

    Grand Forest

    4.3(20 reviews)
    4.9 mi

    Two enclaves of land preserved from suburban encroachment, which has not spared Bainbridge Island,…read moreare the East and West Grand Forest. Here, trees have grown back from the violent hacking and destruction of ancient groves during the 1870s-1890s Euro-colonizer "frontier" evisceration of life. The island was razed entirely. Not a tree left standing, nor the life they sustained, that emerged from millions of years of earthly intelligence unique to this place, with thousands of years of stewardship by indigenous cultural groups. A mere hundred years ago, Euro-colonizers cared more about production lumber than the glorious trees of the Pacific Northwest and the life they held in balance. Today in the same vein, fortressed mega- mansions of the new rich warn anyone off with "private property" signs around this patch where trees are left standing, ironically referred to as "The Grand Forest." A more apt moniker would be "Hint of what was once a Grand Forest." Still the average public, now confined to the suburban and urban rectilinear hard-surface prison existence would appreciate the respite of being inside the green bower. If you are attuned to communities of trees you will perhaps note that this forest doesn't have "death", or large fallen logs that feed the cycle of life and regenerate other trees with their nutrition. You'll see just a crowded jumble of trees that have regrown having not selected amongst themselves how to thin their shared canopy, allow the light in to nurture other trees, and to fully support an integrated life system. Indeed this forest is metaphorically on life-support itself and even so, it sustains the evapotranspiration that helps keep Bainbridge Island cool while nearby concrete capitalist metropolises bake and swelter. The forest helps retains moisture during the winter which recharges groundwater aquifers that are being sucked dry at a much more rapid rate by all the sad suburban cookie cutter edifices with their sprawling Bermuda Grass lawns. As you walk along the nicely laid out paths, I wish you only the best reveries of a kind, gracious form of life that sustained myriad other life in all directions, which is what the forest will be saying to you. Cross over from the West- to the East-enclave and find the old barn of a rich lady (Prue) who donated her family's property to create a connecting corridor between the two sections. Never mind the busy recreation-chasing groups of mountain bikers and sometimes horse riders. This is a place to reconnect your soul to the signals of the life force that brought you to be, notwithstanding your current capitalist industrial trappings. Viva el bosque.

    We started at the Grand Forest West loop and connected halfway to the Hilltop Trail to the…read morebeginning of the Grand Forest East loop. There were parking areas at both loops, but we took an Uber, so we didn't loop back. The West loop goes along the road on one side, so we could hear cars. There are tall trees and fairly dense vegetation, pretty flat and we saw a few bikers. When we started going across to the Hilltop Trail, it was a bit steep, but we got away from the road and it's a bit more serene. There was a pond on the map, but it was a bit underwhelming. A pretty easy hike for a nice stroll, but a pretty boring hike otherwise.

    Photos
    Grand Forest - Wild mushrooms

    Wild mushrooms

    Grand Forest - Trail head

    Trail head

    Grand Forest - Pond in the Grand Forest West loop

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    Pond in the Grand Forest West loop

    Fort Ward Park - parks - Updated May 2026

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