Above all, we ask that you treat this park and its rules with respect and courtesy. For example, the rangers have noticed that one group of pilots lifted the closed gate and drove to launch.  This is a no-no. The gate was closed.  Leave it that way. Flying at this state park is provisional. Don’t lose it for all of us because you are too lazy to walk.  Fly by the rules of courtesy and respect.  If you can’t do that, then please don’t fly here.

A small contingent of club members, along with park officials, worked  for over three years to gain official approval for pilots to fly paragliders at Fort Flagler, a Washington State Park. This remarkable achievement has been approved within a specific set of guidelines that has been negotiated between park officials and the Rainier Paragliding Club.  Those guidelines are posted at each of three kiosks, one at each launch site.  Please read and follow those guidelines.  Please remember that flying at Fort Flagler is a privilege--and it is provisional.  Any misuse of the privilege could lose the site for everyone.

Launch sites are designated by the presence of the informational kiosks: two on the north bluff, and one on the east bluff.  North Bluff Site # 1 (the more eastern of the two north sites) has several hundred feet of flyable bluff.  Use caution when launching and top landing this site.  Undercut sand cliffs make for significant rotor.  North Bluff Site # 3 (the more westerly site) is also vertical and contains rotor, but it seems much more manageable, perhaps because this site faces more into the prevailing NNW winds and because the sand cliffs are not quite so severely undercut.  Another word of advice: because these are sand cliffs that are at least somewhat undercut, stay off their edges.

The third launch site is the east bluff, which is south of Marrowstone Point lighthouse. There is also rotor at this launch site because of the vertical cliffs, but it seems manageable.

Some, but not all, specific rules are:
  *  Check in at the ranger’s office BEFORE you fly.
   *  Do not disturb park facilities, features, or historical resources.
  *  Be courteous to visitors and their activities. We want to be invited back.
  *  Read and follow all rules posted at launch site kiosks.
   *  Launch and land only in posted areas (see maps on kiosks.)
  *  Fly using ridge soaring rules. Fly using proper safety equipment. Fly only in designated areas.
  *  Fly safely, and fly within the limits of your certification.
  *  Sorry, but there is specifically no hang gliding, no motorized flying, and no RC gliders or powered RC planes.

All pilots are encouraged to receive an orientation before flying at this site. Please call Mike McIntyre (360) 302-1326, Wayne Maxwell (360) 385-4767, or Steve Messman (360) 580-8843.