This geocaching adventure challenges you to visit each of Louisiana's State Parks and Historic Sites. Each State Park and Historic Site has a unique special mission with a story to tell, and offers its own very special geocaching adventure for you to experience. Each of these facilities has an official Geo Project cache, containing a special clue for you to find and record. These clues collectively will enable you to determine the coordinates of the mystery location of the Final Cache, which is located somewhere in the state of Louisiana. Use this Official LAOSP Clue Tracking Sheet to record all your clues.
As you travel our fine state, we encourage you to upload photos of your travels on the geocaching.com web pages. However, we ask that you please do not log clues or spoilers to the caches...they would have to be deleted to keep the game fun for everyone! Do tell us all about your travels and what you liked best about our parks and historic sites. As an extra incentive, and for a limited time, you can earn a Louisiana State Park Geocoin for visiting all of our State Parks and Historic Sites, and finding all the official geocaches placed for your pleasure! Prizes are limited to the supply in hand and will not be replenished.
Before you hunt for your first cache, click this link to read the rules for the Geo Project * Louisiana Office of State Parks. You must follow all the rules, to qualify to win one of these great prizes and collectibles.
This cache was place by the geocachers of Louisiana, on behalf of the Louisiana Office of State Parks. It is designed to bring your attention to these beautiful State Parks and Historic Sites. We ask that you join us by visiting them whenever you get a chance. Our State Park system is a great resource, so remember to "cache in and trash out".
Congratulations to OHG&BERT FTF!
Fort Pike State Historic Site
27100 Chef Menteur Highway, New Orleans, LA 70129
504-255-9171 or 888-662-5703 toll free
Directions: The site is located off US 90, approximately 23 miles east of downtown New Orleans. It is also accessible from I-10 via LA 11 South, and turning left on US 90. GPS Coordinates: N 30 9.8507, W 89 44.3877.
Hours of Operation: THIS PARK IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC. Please call 504-255-9171 or 888-662-5703
Follow Fort Pike & Fort Macomb for announcements on clean up events.
Begun in 1819 and completed in 1826, Fort Pike was named for the explorer and soldier General Zebulon Montgomery Pike (1779-1813) whose name is also attached to Pike's Peak in the Rocky Mountains. Fort Pike is the first of the Third System fortifications, a group of brick and masonry structures built between 1816 and 1867. The fort was designed to withstand attack from land or sea.
Although the United States survived the War of 1812, the British destruction of our nation's capital and their attack on New Orleans emphasized the weakness of our country's defense. To prevent a foreign invasion from occurring again, President James Monroe ordered the placement of an extensive coastal defense system. These new fortifications, together with existing ones, stretched along the entire Atlantic and Gulf coasts and protected strategic ports and rivers such as New Orleans and the Mississippi. Forts Pike and Macomb (also called Fort Wood) were two of six new masonry forts built in coastal Louisiana at this time. Together with Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the Mississippi River, Fort Livingston on Barataria Bay and Fort Proctor on the shores of Lake Borgne, these fortifications protected New Orleans from a seaborne invasion.
The original armament of Fort Pike consisted of 32-pounder and 24-pounder cannons; the exact number of each type is unknown. At various times the fort held other types of cannons. The wartime garrison was approximately 400 men; in peacetime it varied between one and 80 soldiers.
Fort Pike's role in the military affairs of the United States prior to the Civil War varied considerably. During the Seminole Wars in the 1830s, Fort Pike served as a staging area for many troops en route to Florida, and also as a collection point for hundreds of Seminole prisoners and their black slaves who were being transported to Oklahoma. Cannons were removed from some of the casements to convert them to cells. At one point in this conflict, only 66 soldiers guarded 253 Indian and black prisoners.
Similarly, during the Mexican War in the 1840s, Fort Pike was a stopover for soldiers bound for Texas and Mexico. In between these wars, Fort Pike was largely abandoned and left in the care of a single ordnance sergeant.
In 1861, the silence of Fort Pike was broken. Before the actual start of the Civil War, the Louisiana militia captured the fort. Confederates held it until the Union forces took New Orleans in 1862, whereupon the Confederates evacuated Fort Pike. Union forces then reoccupied the fort, using it as a base for raids along the Gulf coast and Lake Pontchartrain area and as a protective outpost for New Orleans. The Union also used Fort Pike as a training center, where former slaves were taught to use heavy artillery. These troops became part of the United States Colored Troops, who played an important role in the outcome of many battles, including the siege at Port Hudson. Yet, in spite of all this activity, not a single cannonball was ever fired in battle from Fort Pike.
Fort Pike was again left to the care of an ordnance sergeant from 1871 until it was officially abandoned in 1890. In 1972 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, an honorary designation for significant historic sites.
Your Clues to this Cache...
Remember, this is one of the sites that is actually closed.
The cache is hidden on park grounds. I do suggest that you go for this only during the daylight hours. It is available year round. Please replace as found or as intended. Remember to take your photograph close to the desired object, so just make a recognizable image if you’re trying for any of the prizes.