Experience Fort Ticonderoga on land and water during the 2016 season, beginning on Saturday, May 7. Fort Ticonderoga is a multi-day historic site, museum, and family destination that encourages visitors to build their perfect adventure in America’s most historic landscape. Every day is an event at Fort Ticonderoga and every year is a new experience. It is the only site in the world that tells a new story each year through dynamic historical interpretation. This year is 1777 at Fort Ticonderoga; a fundamental year in the American Revolution. Guests will discover 1777 as German, Canadian, British, and American soldiers, as well as their native allies, fought to control the vital Lake Champlain corridor.

Daily programming will bring to life this epic story through new programs and exhibits, living history weekends, special events, gardens, the Carillon Battlefield hiking trail, canoe rentals, Mount Defiance, hands-on family activities, and daily boat tours aboard Fort Ticonderoga’s 60 ft. cruise boat, the Carillon.

“Fort Ticonderoga is a family destination and a center for learning. A visit is an interactive, multi-faceted 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. Visitors can engage in a number of interactive experiences as they walk through the restored fort, immerse themselves in the history of Lake Champlain on a boat tour, and spend an afternoon in our exhibit galleries exploring our premier collections.”

2016 Highlights:

Enjoy Fort Ticonderoga from the water aboard the Carillon! The 60-foot tour boat Carillon offers daily tours around the Ticonderoga Peninsula on Lake Champlain. Set between the Green and Adirondack Mountains, tours on the Carillon explore not only the epic 18th-century military stories, but also the maritime heritage of the 19th and 20th centuries. The enjoyment carries into the evening with sunset cruises in July and August. Charters are also available!

Experience 1777 this year! A variety of daily soldier’s activities, tours, musket and cannon demos, Fife and Drum Corps performances, and special family programming will immerse guests in the dramatic and pivotal story of this remarkable year considered the turning point of the American Revolution. The season will begin with the American control of Ticonderoga until early July when the British will force the evacuation and take control.

Step into the shoe maker’s shop and tailor’s shop to explore how Fort Ticonderoga served as a major supply depot producing the shoes and clothing that shaped American and British uniforms in 1777. With needle and thread or awl and bristle discover what kinds of supplies were used to protect soldiers from the elements and meet the needs of “Campaign Necessaries.” From tree to timber and beam to building, watch carpentry in action as soldiers turn thousands of board feet into everything from barracks and bateaux to batteries and blockhouses.

Fort Ticonderoga features an exciting new exhibit: The Last Argument of Kings: The Art and Science of Artillery in the 18th Century. Fort Ticonderoga’s artillery collection is internationally recognized as the largest and most significant of its kind in North America. This incredible collection has been set dressing to the reconstructed fort since the early 20th century. The Last Argument of Kings exhibit located in the Mars Education Center will reveal the story of these complex weapons through exploring the creation, use, and after lives of these remarkable objects. The Last Argument of Kings was funded in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and generous donor support.

Recreation activities will highlight Fort Ticonderoga’s rich historic landscape in 2016! A family scavenger hunt will be part of the hiking trail winding around the 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 Fort Ticonderoga’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, is open all season and offers several new garden-related programs for children and adults as well as daily tours. Guests will roll up their sleeves and dig into Fort Ticonderoga’s centuries of horticulture in the formal Colonial Revival garden and five additional plots in the Discovery Gardens. A new interactive Soldiers’ Gardening program welcomes visitors to help tend the gardens alongside soldiers as they grow rows of vital vegetables to supplement their issued rations. Gardening: Then and Now will encourage visitors to sow and hoe with an early 20th-century interpreter portraying one of the Pell family’s personal gardeners, and learn how gardening supported the family throughout the era of reconstruction.

The Heroic Maze: A Corn Maze Adventure, the popular family activity, will continue in its sixth year with a new design for 2016. Guests will find new clues connected to Fort Ticonderoga’s history while they explore a six-acre corn maze. Hidden in the maze are 8 stations, each representing a component of the 18th-century fort. Players are given a Quest Card to collect a stamp from each station. It takes perseverance and skill to find all of the objects and is great fun for all ages. The corn maze opens August 13 and is included with general admission.

Hours and Admission:

Fort Ticonderoga is open daily from May 7 through October 16, 2016 from 9:30 am until 5 pm and from October 17 through October 30 from 10 am until 4 pm. General admission tickets to Fort Ticonderoga can be purchased online at www.fortticonderoga.org or on site at the admissions booth upon entry. Members of Fort Ticonderoga and Ticonderoga Resident Ambassador Pass holders are admitted free of charge. Combination tickets for Fort Ticonderoga admission and Carillon boat cruises are available. Two-day admission tickets to Fort Ticonderoga are also available at a discounted rate.