Discover Fort Washington

Fort Washington offers several reasons to visit: at Fort Washington State Park, nature watching meets a history rooted in the fall of 1777; Hope Lodge and The Highlands Mansion and Gardens add their own historic character. If you’re looking for a vacation rental, you can first consider whether your trip will focus more on nature, raptor migration, or historic homes.

Nature and history at the state park

Fort Washington State Park covers 493 acres in eastern Montgomery County. Its name recalls a temporary fort built by George Washington’s troops in the fall of 1777, before they departed for Valley Forge.

At the state park’s Observation Deck, birdwatchers can watch the seasonal raptor migration. For nature enthusiasts, this seasonal feature is a distinct reason to plan a trip. It differs from a visit focused on historic architecture or gardens. If you’re planning to travel to Fort Washington specifically to see raptors, you can take this seasonal focus into account when choosing your travel dates.

Georgian mansions and how they differ

Hope Lodge is a well-preserved Georgian mansion dating from the 1740s. Its furnishings include pieces from the Colonial and Colonial Revival periods. The house thus combines 18th-century architecture with furnishings that represent two explicitly named historical periods. For visitors with a particular interest in the furnishings of a historic home, this offers a different focus from nature watching at the state park.

Hope Lodge is open for tours on most Sundays from April through October, excluding national holidays. Group tours are available by prior arrangement. So if you’re planning a group visit, making arrangements in advance is an important part of your preparations. For an individual visit, the stated Sunday and seasonal schedule provides guidance; holidays are excluded.

The Highlands Mansion and Gardens offers another historic highlight: the property covers 59 acres and includes a late-18th-century Georgian mansion and a two-acre formal garden. Compared with Hope Lodge, the size of the grounds and the formal garden are also highlights here. The two places therefore differ in the details described: Hope Lodge is characterized by its furnishings, while the garden is explicitly part of the ensemble at The Highlands Mansion and Gardens.

A trail in the wider region

In the wider region, the Wissahickon Trail runs along Wissahickon Creek as a walking trail. The existing section currently extends to the Militia Hill area of Fort Washington State Park. If you’re interested in trails and scenery, you can include this trail as another nature-related option in your travel plans. The specific information about its route is clearly limited: the section described extends to the Militia Hill area; this does not imply anything about other sections of the trail.

When choosing a vacation rental, you can start with the focus of your trip: Are you primarily interested in seasonal raptor watching, historic interiors, or would you also like to include the formal garden? Compare the locations of potential accommodations with the places you actually plan to visit. This way, your search reflects your own itinerary rather than a blanket idea of which accommodation suits every travel plan.

Discover more places

If you’d like to compare more places as you plan your trip: Oaks, Willow Grove, Pottstown, West Conshohocken, Lansdale, Montgomeryville, Plymouth Meeting and Bala Cynwyd.

Back to the regional travel overview: Montgomery.