Close to Waimea Town is Russian Fort Elizabeth a National Historic Landmark. The original goal of the fort built in 1817 was to establish a foothold for Russia in Hawaii by creating a fueling station in the Pacific Ocean but it was a shortlived endeavor. It served as a military outpost for the Hawaiian government for some time before being dismantled in 1864. Now only chicken and a few tourists are visiting the ruins.
The trail follows the walls for some time, they are not as impressive as we expected but still they are interesting and we like the history associated with the fort.
On the backside of the fort is the entrance, unfortunately in the middle of the fort there is a homeless camp so we try to avoid it as best as we can especially as we hear loud snoring from inside.
The trail soon exits the ruins by crossing over the walls. Rather incongrously on the other side there is a sign saying “Please stay off the rock walls” but what can we do if the trail led us over the walls to it?!
From here we can see the mouth of the Waimea River which was protected by the fort, it is quite a scenic view and we enjoy it for a while before completing the loop and returning to the car.
