The property containing the windmills visible from Interstate 90 between Ellensburg and Vantage.
eastbound on Interstate 90
- Wild Horse Recreation Access Permit (pse.com)
Wild Horse is currently CLOSED for public access and recreation during the winter (December – March). Registration for non-hunting recreation permits for the 2024 season (April – November) will be available in March 2024.
- Fort Steilacoom, Vol. 35, No. 1, Spring 2018 (PDF) (historicfortsteilacoom.org)
August Valentine Kautz was born in Germany on January 5, 1828. Shortly thereafter the family, including close relatives, emigrated to America and settled on land previously purchased in Ohio. When he grew up, August Kautz had a long career in the United States Army. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1852, serving in many places, including Fort Steilacoom, and later as a General in the Civil War. He retired from active service on January 5, 1892, in Vancouver, Washington.
- Wild Horse Wind Farm (Wikipedia)
The Wild Horse Wind Farm is a 273-megawatt wind farm that generates energy for Puget Sound Energy that consists of one hundred twenty seven 1.8-megawatt Vestas V80 turbines and twenty two 2.0-megawatt Vestas V80 turbines on a 10,800-acre (4,400 ha) site in Kittitas County, Washington, 17 miles (27 km) east of Ellensburg, Washington. The turbines are placed on the high open Shrub-steppe ridge tops of Whiskey Dick Mountain, which was chosen for its energetic wind resource, remote location, and access to nearby power transmission lines. The towers are 221 feet (67 m) tall, and each blade is 129 feet (39 m) long, with a total rotor diameter of 264 feet (80 m), larger than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. The turbines can begin producing electricity with wind speeds as low as 9 mph (14 km/h) and reach full production at 31 mph (50 km/h). They shut down at sustained wind speeds of 56 mph (90 km/h). The site is also home to one of the largest solar array (500 kW) in Washington.