Camp Hayden (Joyce, Washington)
Joyce · Washington · World War II
History & Significance
The site was established as the Striped Peak Military Reservation in 1941, renamed as Camp Hayden on 22 October 1942, and renamed again as Fort Hayden on 17 April 1944. The installation was part of the modernization of Puget Sound harbor defenses begun in 1940 and its batteries covered the entrance to Puget Sound, the Victoria, British Columbia harbor, and the Canadian naval base at Esquimalt.
The camp concealed two two-gun batteries—one 6-inch installation on Striped Peak and a 16-inch battery on Tongue Point, housed in steel-shielded, canopied concrete bunkers with barrels capable of firing one-ton projectiles nearly 50,000 yards (approximately 28 miles). The guns were manned by 150 troops of 14 Coastal Artillery Regiment.
The guns were test-fired only once. The missile age made the mammoth precision-tooled instruments of destruction obsolete as soon as construction was completed.
Clallam County purchased 193 acres of the 518-acre Camp Hayden between 1958 and 1959, and this became Salt Creek Recreation Area. The site is now accessible to the public as a regional park with trails leading to WWII bunkers and panoramic views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Restored World War II gun casemates and concrete bunkers
- 16-inch and 6-inch coastal defense battery emplacements
- Scenic overlooks of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island
- Beaches and nature trails throughout the 196-acre recreation area
- Historic military fortifications from 1942 coastal defense strategy
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Creek_Recreation_Area
- https://www.clallam.net/Parks/camphayden.html
- https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/588/Salt-Creek-Recreation-Area
- https://cdsg.org/camp-hayden/
- http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/F/o/Fort_Hayden.htm
- https://fortwiki.com/Camp_Hayden