The remote Aleutian Islands, home to the Unangax̂ (Aleut) people for over 8,000 years, became a fiercely contested Pacific battleground in World War II. Some Unangax̂ were taken from their homelands as Japanese prisoners of war while the others were evacuated from the islands by the government. Both groups suffered greatly during the war, and some would never return to their villages.

Group of people around a Russian cross in tall grass

A homeland changed

Evacuation and internment

Six men with guns carry a person on a stretcher in a valley.

The battle for Attu Island

A uniformed man holds up a broken Russian cross

Cultural collision

a rusty, large gun sits on a grassy bank overlooking a coastal bay.

Anti-aircraft Gun Artifact

Aleutian Islands World War II

Fourth of July

Winter

Summer Hours

Self-Guided Tours - Auto

Take a self-guided auto or walking tour to Fort Schwatka on Mount Ballyhoo. 

A land use permit must be obtained to visit the National Historic Area on Mount Ballyhoo, as the park is privately owned by the Ounalashka Corporation. Visitors can purchase these permits by calling the corporation at (907) 581-1276, or by visiting the corporation Monday - Friday at 400 Salmon Way. Permits can also be purchased at the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/aleu/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm">visitor center</a>. The cost for a permit is as follows: <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" height="99" summary="permit prices" width="459"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Type of permit</td> <td>Individual cost</td> <td>Family cost</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Daily</td> <td>$6</td> <td>$10</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Weekly</td> <td>$15</td> <td>$20</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Annual</td> <td>$60</td> <td>$80</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Visitor passes for the World War II Visitor Center are free to veterans, $2 for active military and seniors over age 55 and $5 for all others. Summer hours are Tuesday - Sunday from 11 am - 6 pm. Winter hours are Tuesday - Saturday from 11 am - 5 pm. Admission cost for the <a href="http://www.aleutians.org/">Museum of the Aleutians</a> is $5 per person. The Museum is open Tuesday - Saturday from 11 am - 5 pm. Visit the <a href="https://ounalashka.com/wwii-visitor-center-2/">Ounalashka Corporation's website</a> for additional information on fees.

Colorful cover of a walking guide for a fort with a black bar that says NPS

Take a drive (or walk) where soldiers defended the United States of America during World War II, in this remote corner of Alaska. Discover what life would have been like for the 250 soldiers stationed at Fort Schwatka with the self-guided driving or walking tour. Over a dozen different stops illustrate the hardships and logistics of a coastal defense fort during World War II.  The fort was constructed in 1940 to protect the Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base from a seaborne invasion fleet. The June 1942 attack on Dutch Harbor prompted an upgrade of the fort that was completed by early 1944. At full development Fort Schwatka had over 100 structures supporting the soldiers of the two coast artillery units that manned the cannons and antiaircraft guns. Barracks, storehouses, a recreation center, officers club, quonset huts, latrines, administration, and support buildings all served the needs of an estimated 250 soldiers stationed on this lonely mountain. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/aleu/planyourvisit/upload/Fort-Schwatka-Self-Guided-Booklet-08-06-07-508-v2.pdf">Download the Fort Schwatka Self-Guided Tour booklet. </a>

The Aleutian Islands are known for unpredictable and stormy weather. Rain, fog, and wind are common. Dress warmly and carry rain gear even in summer. Summer temperatures range from 45 to 65 degrees F. Early summer and fall often have clear sunny days with spectacular views of the surrounding volcanoes.

Explore National Historic Landmark, Fort Schwatka and Battery 402, by foot or by vehicle.

Self-Guided Tour of Fort Schwatka

Ruins

Architecture and Building

Engineering

Forts

Coastal Defenses

Maritime - Military

Military

US Army

Wars and Conflicts

World War II

Scenic Driving

Turn right out of <a href="https://www.nps.gov/aleu/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm">the Visitor Center</a> parking lot onto Airport Beach Road.  (To visit the Sitka Spruce Plantation National Historic Landmark, take the first left off Airport Beach Road onto Biorka Drive.  Sitka Spruce Park is approximately one block uphill on the left.) Sixty years after the war, only a few structures from Fort Mears remain along Airport Beach Road.  In 1942, hundreds of buildings?mess halls, barracks, hospital wards, warehouses, and mechanic shops?surrounded Margaret Bay and extended to the shore of Unalaska Bay.   Mile 0.7 - Bombing of Fort Mears (1942)  Early on the morning of June 3, 1942, where the Grand Aleutian Hotel now stands and across the street on the shore of Unalaska Bay, Japanese aircraft dropped 16 bombs on Fort Mears. The commanding officer had known for several days that an enemy attack was expected, and had ordered his troops to evacuate the garrison and take cover in trenches and foxholes on the surrounding hills.  Tragically, 50 soldiers who had arrived in Dutch Harbor late on the night of June 2 were not informed of the evacuation, and the following morning the bombing killed 25 of these men and injured the others.

Starting at the Aleutian World War II visitor center, this route follows the Airport Beach Route (north) and highlights 5 military sites along the way.

Airport Beach Road (North)

Turn right out of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/aleu/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm">Visitor Center</a> parking lot onto Airport Beach Road.  Continue on this road until you cross the Iliuliuk River Bridge into the Unalaska Town Site.  On the north side of the bridge, Airport Beach Road becomes 5th Street.  At the first intersection, turn right onto Broadway Avenue then left at King Street.  At the end of King Street, turn right onto Bayview Avenue and continue past Unalaska Memorial Park and Cemetery.  After this point, Bayview Avenue becomes Summer Bay Road. Fort Brumback on Morris Cove was one of the eastern points of Dutch Harbor’s coastal defense network known as “The Iron Ring.” Construction of the fort and access road, Summer Bay Road, began in 1942.  Army Garrison No. 6 included administration buildings, mess halls, 10 barracks buildings, and 70 Quonset huts. A few badly deteriorated Quonsets are all that remain of these buildings. However, a number of Fort Brumback’s defensive fortifications, located between Summer Bay and Humpy Cove, are still standing.

Starting at the Aleutian World War II visitor center, this route follows along Iliuliuk Bay and along the Summer Bay road including 6 military sites along the way. This route includes the distinctive looking Base End Station remains.

Summer Bay Road

Turn right out of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/aleu/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm">Visitor Center</a> parking lot onto Airport Beach Road. Continue on this road until you cross the Iliuliuk River Bridge into the Unalaska Town Site, where Airport Beach Road becomes 5th Street. At the corner of 5th Street and Broadway Avenue, turn right onto Broadway Avenue and follow the road until you reach the washout.   The Move to Unalaska Valley  After the 1942 bombing of Dutch Harbor, work began almost immediately on moving Fort Mears operations from Margaret Bay to Unalaska Valley, a more geographically protected area.  By 1943, construction of the new installation (designated Garrisons 2 and 5) was completed, and the men of Garrison 1 were now quartered in 46 barracks buildings and 14 officers quarters, in addition to 674 Quonset huts and 350 cabanas scattered randomly throughout the valley.  After the battle on Kiska Island in 1944, the army established the North Pacific Combat School in an area of Lower Unalaska Valley known as Ski Bowl (J. Dickrell).

Starting at the Aleutian World War II visitor center, this route follows the Unalaska Valley road and highlights 4 military sites along the way.

Upper Unalaska Valley

Turn right out of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/aleu/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm">Visitor Center</a> parking lot onto Airport Beach Road; drive south on Airport Beach Road and cross over the bridge to Unalaska Island.  Continue downhill past City Hall and cross the Iliuliuk River Bridge. On the north side of the bridge, Airport Beach Road becomes 5th Street.  At the first stop sign, turn left onto Broadway Avenue. Mile 2.8 - Burma Road Chapel (1942)   The former Burma Road Chapel, now the Unalaska Convention and Visitors Bureau, is the only remaining military church on Unalaska Island and Amaknak Island from the World War II era. Despite new doors, windows, and paint, the building is still recognizable as a 1940s-era  structure. The Sitka spruce on each side of the chapel were likely planted soon after the chapel was built, as part of the military tree-planting program.  Mile 3.1 - Bomb Site (1942): Bureau of Indian Affairs Hospital Just past the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Cathedral Way is the site where the Bureau of Indian Affairs Hospital once stood. In early June 1942, hospital personnel received word from base intelligence that an enemy air strike was expected at Dutch Harbor.  The hospital staff immediately moved patients to nearby dugout shelters.  On June 4, a Japanese bomb hit next to the hospital, severely damaging the building.  Only two people were in the hospital at the time, the head nurse and the janitor, but neither was injured. In an interview, ward attendant Martha Tutiakoff recalled that the explosion “tore out the whole end of the building and destroyed the nurses’ quarters and all their belongings. It twisted and shattered the rest of the building...[but] there was no fire” (The Williwaw War). The hospital was rebuilt, but burned in the 1950s.

Starting at the Aleutian World War II visitor center, this route crosses the river to Unalaska Island and highlights 5 military sites in the town site.

Unalaska Town Site

Turn right out of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/aleu/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm">Visitor Center</a> parking lot onto Airport Beach Road. At Mile 1.9, turn right onto Henry  Swanson Drive, just before the wooden bridge to Unalaska Island. Pull over immediately to left, near bridge. Park facing south.  Hill 400 is now on your immediate right; Agnes Beach and Pyramid Valley are on your left, across Captains Bay.   Hill 400 Coastal Defenses, Amaknak Island Two months after the  bombing of Fort Mears, Navy Seabees began constructing a defense installation on Hill 400. Also called Bunker Hill and Little South America (for its geographic shape), Hill 400 overlooks Unalaska Bay, Iliuliuk Harbor, and Captains Bay.  This trategic location provided an ideal coastal defense site. Panama mounts for 155-mm guns were installed at the top of Hill 400.  Small elephant-steel magazines stored ammunition and fuses; larger concrete-and-steel ordnance magazines were cut into the side of the hill.  The two-tiered Base End Station on top of Hill 400 is visible from Airport Beach Road.   Pyramid Valley, Unalaska Island  A concrete power plant is the only structure remaining in the valley where a 50-bed hospital, dental clinic, morgue, warehouses, Quonset huts, and cabanas once stood in 1943. After the war, some cabanas were moved or salvaged for lumber; the rest of the buildings were removed during a 1986 federal environmental cleanup.    The most visible reminders of World War II in Pyramid Valley are the Sitka spruce trees planted during the 1940s as part of a military tree-planting program in the Aleutians.  The goal of this program, promoted by General Simon Bolivar Buckner, was to “reduce the monotony of the landscape for thousands of  soldiers, …curb erosion, … and rectify Nature’s apparent omissions” (D. Bruce and A. Court: Trees for the Aleutians).  Despite the severe winter storms of Southwestern Alaska, a number of the trees planted in this valley have survived.

Starting at the Aleutian World War II visitor center, this route follows the Airport Beach Route (south) and highlights 5 military sites along the way.

Airport Beach Road (South)

US Navy

Turn left out of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/aleu/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm">Visitor Center</a> parking lot onto Airport Beach Road. Continue straight at the stop sign onto East Point Loop Road. You may encounter heavy equipment and many large trucks as you drive through this industrial area.  Please use caution. Mile 0.1 - Powerhouse (1942)  This 93-foot by 103-foot concrete and reinforced-steel building originally supplied electrical power to Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base.  It now supplies power to the City of Unalaska. The 5-foot-thick walls and 6½-foot-thick roof were built to withstand the force of a 250-kilogram bomb. After the hill directly behind the Powerhouse was hit by Japanese bombs in June 1942, it became known as “Suicide Hill” because of the men who died there.

Starting at the Aleutian World War II visitor center, this route follows the East Point Loop Road and highlights 8 military sites along the way.

Aleutian Islands World War II

Overview

Hours

Fees & Passes

Map

Things To Do

Category

Self-Guided Tour of Fort Schwatka

Description

Fees

Airport Beach Road (North)

Description

Summer Bay Road

Description

Upper Unalaska Valley

Description

Unalaska Town Site

Description

Airport Beach Road (South)

Description

More Images