The angle between the normal to an interplanetary shock front and the upstream magnetic field (θBn), though often considered to be a property “of the shock,” also depends on the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field through which the shock is traveling. We examine the solar wind context of 105 near‐Earth quasi‐perpendicular fast forward shocks in 1996–2005 identified by θBn ≥ 80° and∕or by evidence of shock drift particle acceleration. These shocks (87% driven by interplanetary coronal mass ejections; ICMEs) were propagating through a variety of solar wind structures including unrelated ICMEs, slow solar wind, high‐speed streams, the heliospheric plasma sheet, and shock sheaths. Magnetic field orientations upstream of the shocks were more likely to be highly inclined to the radial direction than in the solar wind as a whole. We also compare the Fe∕O ratio in solar wind and energetic particles ( ∼ 1 MeV/n) in the vicinity of these shocks. Average values are similar (∼0.14), but occasionally both are enhanced at shocks propagating through ICMEs.