Fort Ticonderoga opens for the 2014 season on Saturday, May 10, and will offer new programs, living history weekends, special events, exhibits, gardens, the Carillon Battlefield hiking trail, canoe rentals, and the new Mount Defiance experience. Guests will immerse themselves in nearly 2000 acres of exquisite landscape at Fort Ticonderoga to discover one of North America’s most epic stories of defiance, hope, and independence.

Recognized as a top destination in the Adirondacks by USA News Travel, Fort Ticonderoga connects all guests to a place and time that defined a continent, a nation, and its continued legacy.

“Fort Ticonderoga is a family destination and a center of learning. A visit is an interactive, multi-disciplined experience,” said Beth Hill, President and CEO. “It’s exploring the beautiful gardens, finding adventure in our events, marching with the Fife and Drum Corps, and learning about a historic trade. It’s a walk through the restored Fort, a stroll overlooking Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains of Vermont, and an afternoon in our exhibit galleries exploring our premier collections.”

2014 Highlights

Experience 1776 this year! Guests to Fort Ticonderoga will be immersed in the year 1776 when rebellion became revolution. Fort Ticonderoga’s interpretive staff will bring this dramatic and successful year at Ticonderoga to life as they portray Captain John Lacey’s company of the Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion. A variety of daily soldier’s activities, tours, musket demos and special family programming will immerse guests in the story of this remarkable year of independence.

Step into the shoe maker’s shop and tailor’s shop to explore how Fort Ticonderoga served as a major supply depot producing shoes and clothing for the thousands of soldiers camped at Ticonderoga. With needle and thread or awl and bristle discover what kinds of supplies were needed to build the army to secure liberty.

Daily tours, Soldier’s Life programs, family hands-on activities, and Fife & Drum Corps performances launch guests on an adventure in time where they will discover the life at Fort Ticonderoga in 1776.

Fort Ticonderoga’s newest exhibit “Founding Fashion: The Diversity of Regularity in 18th- Century Military Clothing” highlights the most impressive 18th-century military clothing collection in America. Utilizing the most important elements of the museum’s clothing, art, and archeological collections, the exhibit will explore what military clothing is and how European military fashion and global commerce influenced American martial appearance through the American Revolution. Additional museum exhibits showing in 2014 include “Bullets & Blades: The Weapons of America’s Colonial Wars and Revolution” and “It Would Make a Heart of Stone Melt: Sickness, Injury, and Medicine at Fort Ticonderoga.”

Recreation activities will highlight Fort Ticonderoga’s rich historic landscape in 2014! A new family scavenger hunt will be part of the hiking trail winding around Carillon Battlefield. The trail offers guests an unparalleled opportunity to explore epic history and natural beauty and the canoe rental program provides a unique perspective of the Fort’s history from the stunning waters of Lake Champlain.

Visit Mount Defiance to witness a birds-eye view of Fort Ticonderoga’s epic military landscape and discover how this summit shaped America’s history! Mount Defiance: Witness to History Tour is offered daily at 4pm.

The beautiful King’s Garden, one of North America’s oldest gardens and the largest public garden in the Adirondack-Lake Champlain region, will open on May 24 and offer many new garden-related programs for children and adults as well as daily tours. Guest will roll up their sleeves and dig into Fort Ticonderoga’s centuries of horticulture in the formal garden along with the Discovery Gardens – the Garrison Garden, Children’s Garden, and Three Sisters Garden. Program opportunities include Hands-on Horticulture presentations in July and August which offer active discovery and enjoyment for all ages. New this year, guests can celebrate their special day with a King’s Garden Birthday Party. A new interactive 18th-century American Garrison Garden will bring this vibrant, living garden space to life and highlight the vital vocation of gardening that was an important part of soldiers’ duties at Fort Ticonderoga.

The Heroic Maze: A Corn Maze Adventure, the popular Fort family activity, will continue in its fourth year. Guests will find new clues connected to Fort Ticonderoga’s history while they explore a newly designed six-acre corn maze. NEW FOR 2014! “Engineer a Fort” Maze Quest. Hidden in the maze are 8 stations each representing a component of an 18th-century fort. Players are given a Quest Card to collect a stamp from each station. It takes perseverance and skill to find all the objects and is great fun for all ages. The corn maze opens August 15 and is included with general admission.

Hours and Admission

Fort Ticonderoga is open daily from May 10 through November 2, 2014 from 9:30 am until 5 pm. General admission to Fort Ticonderoga, an independent non-profit organization, is $17.50 for adults, $15.00 for those 65 and over; and $8 for children 5 through 12. Children 4 and under are admitted free of charge. Friends of Fort Ticonderoga and Ticonderoga Resident Ambassador Pass holders are also admitted free.

Fort Ticonderoga offers more than one hundred exciting and unique events and programs this season! Visit www.FortTiconderoga.org for a full list of ongoing programs or call 518-585-2821. Funding for the 2014 season is provided in part by Amtrak. Visit http://www.fortticonderoga.org/visit/directions for a special 2 for 1 Amtrak offer!