Tag Archives: National Historical Park

Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park

July 27, 2021 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

The Shenandoah Valley was the Confederate States of America’s “breadbasket” in the 1860s and thus had strategic importance during the Civil War. This led to numerous skirmishes and the fight that took place on October 19, 1864 is commemorated at Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. Little of the land within this 3,700-acre park established in 2002 is owned by the federal government, but the National Park Service (NPS) has done a significant amount of work to improve its interpretive signage since our first visit in 2016.

Highlights

Morning Attack Trails, driving tour, Hupp’s Hill Museum, Belle Grove historic plantation

Must-Do Activity

If you need the stamp for your NPS passport, stop at the Visitor Contact Station located in a strip mall in Middletown, Virginia. There you can pick up a free guide to help you follow the driving tour focused on the October 19, 1864 battle fought at Cedar Creek. There is also a free app available on the park’s website. Managed by a non-profit that organizes an annual reenactment of the battle, Hupp’s Hill Civil War Park has a museum (fee). You can also pay to take a tour of the manor house at Belle Grove.

Best Trail

The Morning Attack Trails are located next to the NPS Headquarters off Highway 11 with interpretive signage placed on the 300-yard long 8th Vermont Monument Trail, 0.6-mile Thomas Brigade Loop, and 0.7-mile Hayes-Ramseur Loop.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Available for guided tours (fee) between April and December, the manor house at Belle Grove plantation dates back to 1797. Union General Philip Sheridan used the house as his headquarters in 1864 and most of his 31,600 troops camped on the property.

Peak Season

Fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/cebe/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

Admission charged for guided tours of Belle Grove manor house and entrance to Hupp’s Hill Museum.

Road Conditions

Some of the roads on the driving tour are unpaved and not recommended for buses or RVs.

Camping

None

Related Sites

Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania)

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (West Virginia-Maryland-Virginia)

Shenandoah National Park (Virginia)

The NPS visitor contact station is located in a strip mall

Explore More – Belle Grove was owned by Isaac Hite, Jr. and his wife Nelly, who was the sister of which U.S. President?

Louisiana

Cane River Creole National Historical Park

June 29, 2021 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

In colonial Louisiana, the word “Creole” referred to any New World product, from architecture to livestock to human beings (and was not specific to any ethnicity). South of Natchitoches, Louisiana the Cane River National Heritage Area follows an abandoned meander of the Red River, with two antebellum cotton plantations protected as Cane River Creole National Historical Park. This National Park Service (NPS) site was authorized in 1994 and continues to be developed; meanwhile it provides an interesting perspective on a unique culture and excellent photographic opportunities.

Highlights

Oakland Plantation, Magnolia Plantation, historic buildings, pecan picking

Must-Do Activity

Oakland Plantation dates back to the late 1700s and survived the Civil War intact, but in the wake of Reconstruction tenant farming created a new form of indentured servitude. Self-guided tours of the site take you through the mule barn, general store, and several cottages. When we visited in November 2016, park volunteers were only offering one tour per day, but were happy to spend time talking with us inside the old general store. Slave/tenant quarters are also preserved at Magnolia Plantation downstream, but the main house (which was burned during the Civil War and rebuilt) is privately owned and closed to the public.

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

Nothing says you are in the South like the crooked branches of live oak trees. Live oaks drape over the bottle-lined garden at the Oakland Plantation main house.

Peak Season

Fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/cari/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Kisatchie National Forest has a small campground three miles north of Natchitoches off State Road 117.

Related Sites

Natchez National Historical Park (Mississippi)

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (Louisiana)

Poverty Point National Monument (Louisiana)

Explore More – Cane River National Heritage Area covers 40,000 acres, but how large is Cane River Creole National Historical Park?

Virgin Islands

Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve

April 20, 2021 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

When the U.S. Virgin Islands chose a National Park Service (NPS) site for their quarter (see below) in the America the Beautiful coin collection they selected this undeveloped park, which we would rank worst of the five NPS units there. Established in 1992, it contains the only place in the United States where Christopher Columbus’s men set foot 500 years ago (although that is now underwater). The region is still recovering after Hurricanes Irma and Maria did extensive damage in 2017, including the removal of the NPS contact station here.

Highlights

Mangroves, bioluminescent bay

Must-Do Activity

On St. Croix Island, the NPS has exhibits about this park at Christiansted National Historic Site, including descriptions of the western hemisphere’s first violent resistance by natives to European encroachment in 1493. The park is completely undeveloped, including the archaeological sites. The must-do activity is a kayaking trip after dark to Mangrove Lagoon to see the bioluminescent organisms there. Plan your trip around a new moon when the darkness helps them show up better. Do not bother bringing your waterproof camera, since it is nearly impossible to capture on film.

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

The long roots of mangroves help protect the shore from storm damage and provide a safe hiding place for small fish.

Peak Season

Spring

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/sari/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None, except for guided tours of the bioluminescent bay

Road Conditions

Access roads paved

Camping

There is no official campground, but locals have semi-permanent camps set up on the beach within Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve and other parts of the island. We found the best deals on St. Croix Island were available through Airbnb.

Related Sites

Buck Island Reef National Monument (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Christiansted National Historic Site (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Virgin Islands National Park (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Explore More – This park contains the only Taino ballcourt in the Caribbean built before Columbus’s arrival; when was it discovered?

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Georgia

Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historical Park

February 23, 2021 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

Sweet Auburn is a neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia where Martin Luther King, Jr. was baptized and ordained as a minister in Ebenezer Baptist Church. The National Park Service (NPS) was granted 39 acres here in 1980 to honor the Civil Rights leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Following his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, King’s funeral was held at Ebenezer Baptist Church on April 4, 1968. It is free to visit the NPS museum, birth home, and affiliated Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

Highlights

Museum, Ebenezer Baptist Church, MLK birth home, Reflection Pool tomb

Must-Do Activity

Inside the NPS museum, immersive audiovisual bubbles take visitors through the life of this prominent Civil Rights protestor. A short walk is required to enter his boyhood home (which is wheelchair accessible). Silence is mandatory while inside. Outside the neighboring King Center, the Reflection Pool contains the tombs of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King, as well as an eternal flame.

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

When reviewing this picture, Tiff swore she thought Gandhi was holding a selfie stick and was wearing sunglasses.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/malu/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

A large, free parking lot is located north of the NPS visitor center.

Camping

Campgrounds are located outside Atlanta at the Corps of Engineers’ Lake Sidney Lanier and Forest Service’s Chattahoochee National Forest.

Related Sites

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial (District of Columbia)

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument (Mississippi)

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (Georgia)

Explore More – How was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s mother also tragically killed by gunshot in 1974?

District of Columbia, Maryland, West Virginia

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

January 7, 2021 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

The Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal was supposed to connect ports in Washington, D.C. with the Ohio River, but it never reached its destination before the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad rendered it obsolete in 1850. It employed 35,000 laborers (mostly European immigrants) during its 22 years of construction and eventually carried coal out of the Appalachian Mountains for decades. The canal closed in 1924, but it left behind indelible historic landmarks like locks, dams, aqueducts, historic hotels, and a 3,118-foot long tunnel.

Highlights

Historic locks, boat tours, Great Falls Tavern, boating

Must-Do Activity

C&O Canal National Historical Park is run by the National Park Service (NPS) and offers multiple free visitor centers along the route that are open seasonally. Near Washington, D.C. both the Great Falls Tavern and Georgetown Visitor Centers offer mule-drawn canal boat rides on a first-come, first-served basis April through October. We enjoyed touring the historic locks of the canal in Hancock, Maryland after visiting Catoctin Mountain Park and Antietam National Battlefield.

Best Trail

Today you can walk and bike the graded 184.5-mile towpath that follows the Potomac River, camping at designated sites along the way if you choose.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The canal locks at Hancock, Maryland became part of the park that was created in 1971. The boarding house located there now serves as an NPS visitor center.

Peak Season

Summer, as most of the visitor centers are closed seasonally

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None, except at Great Falls Tavern

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There are primitive drive-in camping areas at five spots along the canal path, as well as 30 backpacking campsites spaced approximately five miles apart. There is also a nice NPS campground at Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland.

Related Sites

George Washington Memorial Parkway (Virginia-Maryland)

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (West Virginia-Maryland-Virginia)

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)