Fort Mills Target RangeAfter visiting Radio #2, I had planned to continue further north and see what remains of the Target Range. No roads are open to vehicles around here anymore. A path had been cleared on a couple roads for hikers but that was many months ago and recent typhoons left some damage. Quite often, walking near these roads but off of them is the best way to go anyway.
Old road beds are visible on the way to the Rifle Range but the hiking trails do not go here. I doubt anyone visits this location. There are no broken branches or bolo (machete) marks visible to indicate any visitors have come this way.
Corregidor 1936 map of the Target Range area.
First stop was the Firing Line which lies on top of a ridge. The terrain between here and the two target lines appears to be a shallow valley but you cannot see very far, it is very overgrown.
On the map you can see a rectangular building labeled as the Target Shed. Absolutely nothing remains of this building which is actually quite unusual. Even if a wooden building was burned, the concrete steps and foundation or pedestals would remain. At the exact location of this building, the land is totally bare of anything but trees bushes. I have a feeling that this building was torn down and removed before the war.
Another surprise is nearby. Just behind the Firing Line was a building that sat on 4 feet high concrete pedestals. Considering its location and being up high I wondered if its purpose was Range Control. This building is not shown on the map so it must have been a post 1936 construction project.
One of four concrete pedestals just behind the Firing Line. On top of the plateau, this building really stuck up in the air. On the map I labeled it as a possible Range Control building.
I was wondering what a Firing Line would look like. Well, today the only evidence of it is a high concrete wall. The firing line is flat at the top of one side of the wall and the down range side of the wall is approximately 12 feet high. Unless part of it was destroyed, the wall is not as long as it is shown to be on the map.
Looking along part of the Firing Line wall. The plateau is flush with the top of the wall to the right. There is a 12 foot drop to the left facing the Target Lines.
Standing at the bottom of the Firing Line Wall.
Vegetation in the direction of the Target Lines looked terrible from here so I decided to bypass that mess and follow a path that skirted the Range to the south (dashed line on the map). This worked out well. When I got opposite the 200 yard Target Line, I turned right and walked a short ways down the hillside.
Here was a wall of soil parallel to the Firing Line. I expected to see a bit more such as remnants of wood or metal target frames of some sort. Not much to see really here. Perhaps the targets were not substantial structures and having this soil embankment would absorb the bullets well and not cause ricochets. I walked along the embankment and back on top of it but saw nothing of interest.
Part of the soil embankment at the 200 yard Target Line.
After here I walked up to the south trail and turned towards the 300 yard Target Line. Within a couple minutes I was in the correct area of this line but there were some trees to get around. I ended up slightly behind the 300 yard Target Line and was surprised to see a long concrete wall in front of me. After exploring more I learned that one side of the embankment was soil (facing the Firing Line) and the opposite side had a concrete wall approximately 36 yards long and 10 feet high. At the south end of the wall is a set of concrete steps to get down behind the wall.
The wall behind the 300 yard Target Line. Part of it is leaning outwards quite a bit.
Now I wondered if the 200 yard line has a similar wall behind it but I was too lazy to go back and have a look. Also it was already 2:30pm and I still was a long way from civilization. Map symbols for both Target Lines are the same so I expect there is a wall there too.
One of the old roads/hiking trails was now just down the hill from me to the north. My route back to a cold drink on Bottomside would be along the North Shore Road via James Ravine. For the most part the old road was not difficult to walk on but a few detours were necessary around downed trees and big branches.
Before heading down into James Ravine there are two points of interest that I will mention. The first is a structure that seems to serve as a bunker and an observation post. Positioned at the top of the cliff, it has a view port that looks out over the North Channel towards Bataan. Attached to the rear is a perpendicular room that was under a concrete roof. One side doorway allows access to both rooms. This structure must also be post 1936 as it is not on the map.
Standing at the top of the cliff, here is a view of the front of the Observation Post.
Damaged rear entrance to the Observation Post.
The main side entrance to the bunker and Observation Post.
The roof of the bunker was destroyed. Chunks of it lie inside the room.
At Road Junction 95, I turn left to start the descent down into James Ravine. (Going south at this point would take me back to Battery Way). Walking down the ravine you see a long rock/concrete retaining wall beside the road. Okla has mentioned in the past about all the concrete used by the Engineers to build Fort Mills. Here is another example. You cannot go far on the island without seeing something made of concrete. Infrastructure such as the drainage system still functions today
Rock/concrete retaining wall partially damaged.
Rock/concrete retaining wall partially damaged.