Tag Archives: trail

Richmond National Battlefield Park

August 18, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

Richmond, Virginia was the capital of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, located only 110 miles south of Washington, D.C. The heavily fortified city repelled Union attacks in 1862 and 1864, but was abandoned following the retreat from Petersburg on April 2, 1865. Richmond National Battlefield Park is composed of thirteen units connected by an 80-mile driving tour, some of which are only staffed seasonally. The main National Park Service (NPS) visitor center at Tredegar Iron Works is located near the historic Virginia capitol building and not far from Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site.

Highlights

Tredegar Iron Works, film, Cold Harbor battlefield, Chimborazo Medical Museum

Must-Do Activity

The modern NPS visitor center is located downtown inside the Tredegar Iron Works on the Canal Walk. During the war, this foundry produced almost 1,100 cannons, as well as armor plating for ironclad gunboats. Today the stabilized and enclosed remains of Tredegar Iron Works offer three stories of exhibits, including a film and several interactive multimedia displays. The site of the June 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor has a year-round visitor center northeast of Richmond. We also highly recommend a stop at the Chimborazo Medical Museum, which covers an often overlooked aspect of a war that claimed 620,000 soldiers’ lives, many from disease.

Best Trail

Short trails help visitors understand the battles at Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines’ Mill, Malvern Hill, Cold Harbor, Fort Harrison, Fort Brady, Parker’s Battery, and Drewry’s Bluff.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The stabilized brick walls of Tredegar Iron Works are an interesting subject for photographs. The foundry was protected by its workers from destruction by the retreating Confederate army on April 2, 1865. This proved important during Reconstruction after the war.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None except for parking at Tredegar Iron Works

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Pocahontas State Park and Forest offers a campground with running water just outside Richmond, Virginia.

Related Sites

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site (Virginia)

Fredericksbug and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park (Virginia)

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (Virginia)

Tiff on the steps of Chimborazo Medical Museum

Explore More –Opened in October 1861, how many sick and wounded soldiers were treated at Chimborazo Hospital (with its 3,000 bed capacity and 20% mortality rate) by the end of the Civil War?

Georgia

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

August 13, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

There are probably not many places on the list of top 50 most visited units in the National Park Service (NPS) system that you have never heard of, but Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park may be one. Located in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, this 2,923-acre park receives more than 2.3-million visitors annually. The park memorializes a Civil War battlefield on General Sherman’s “scorched earth” march to Atlanta in 1864 and is now surrounded by a heavily-populated suburb and a university. Watch for pedestrians on the road to the top of the 700-foot tall Kennesaw Mountain.

Highlights

Museum, film, scenic views, hiking trails, Kolb’s Farm, cannons

Must-Do Activity

You can drive to the cannons and earthworks on top of Kennesaw Mountain when the shuttle bus is not running on weekdays, but most recreationists walk the road or trails to get there. Inside the NPS visitor center at the 700-foot hill’s base, you will learn about the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 when Union General William Tecumseh Sherman led 100,000 troops out of Chattanooga, Tennessee on the “March to the Sea.” After 5,350 soldiers died at Kennesaw Mountain, he decided to just go around it on his way to the city, causing the Confederates to abandon their fortifications there. If you do drive to the top, you will need to go around many pedestrians and bikers, too.

Best Trail

There are 19.7 miles of hiking trails, but we found that most visitors just walked or biked down the center of the paved road to the top.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Kennesaw Mountain offers sweeping views of the Atlanta-metropolitan area.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

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

Fees

$5 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

The road to the top is paved, but there is limited parking up there so a shuttle bus runs on weekends.

Camping

There are several campgrounds on nearby Lake Altoona managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Red Top Mountain State Park is also located north of Kennesaw, Georgia.

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (Georgia)

Andersonville National Historic Site (Georgia)

No Civil War site would be complete without a cannon

Explore More – The attack on Kennesaw Mountain occurred on June 27, 1864, but when did the Union army finally occupy Atlanta?

Pennsylvania

Gettysburg National Military Park

July 30, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

The turning point of the Civil War undoubtedly occurred on July 3, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, especially when considered in combination with the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi. After the Confederate invasion of the North was repulsed at Antietam, the next year General Robert E. Lee led 75,000 troops into Pennsylvania to face 88,289 Union soldiers. After three days of fighting, there were 51,000 men killed, wounded, or missing; the most of any battle on American soil. It can take more than one full day to visit Gettysburg National Military Park, especially if you add on a bus tour to neighboring Eisenhower National Historic Site.

Highlights

Museum, film, Cyclorama painting, driving tour, David Wills House, cannons

Must-Do Activity

It is free to take the 24-mile long driving tour, but an admission fee is charged for the museum (opened in 2008) that covers the entire Civil War, including Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address. You should also consider watching the excellent 45-minute film A New Birth of Freedom (narrated by Morgan Freeman) and viewing the audio-visual program for the Cyclorama (a 377×42-foot original oil painting on a round canvas that depicts Pickett’s Charge of July 3, 1863). Commercial bus tours are available and you can also hire a licensed guide to ride in your car and provide a personal two-hour tour past the 1,300 monuments and memorials where so many men gave “the last full measure.”

Best Trail

If you have read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, you will want to get out of your car and walk around Little Round Top, which overlooks the infamous Devil’s Den, Peach Orchard, and Wheatfield. The High Water Mark Trail and Soldiers’ National Cemetery Trail are each about one mile in length.

Instagram-worthy Photo

This site is perhaps best known for President Lincoln’s 272-word Gettysburg Address, which he gave in two minutes following a two-hour speech by Edward Everett. Newspaper reviews from the next day were not favorable for the President.

Peak Season

Summer, though it was very busy even on a weekday in October 2016.

Hours

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

Fees

Free driving tour, $15 per adult for films and museum (no discount for America the Beautiful pass)

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There a numerous private campgrounds around Gettysburg, and the National Park Service’s Catoctin Mountain Park is only 20 miles away, as are Caledonia and Corodus State Parks.

Eisenhower National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

Scott in front of the 377-foot long *Cyclorama painting*

Explore More – When was the Cyclorama painting by French artist Paul Philippoteaux completed?

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Maryland

Antietam National Battlefield

July 23, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

Antietam National Battlefield was established in 1890 to commemorate those who fought in Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17, 1862, the bloodiest single day in American military history with more than 23,000 total casualties. In fact, it was in the aftermath of Antietam that Clara Barton earned her nickname “The Angel of the Battlefield” before going on to found the American Red Cross in 1881. The battle was a draw, but together with a Union victory at Harpers Ferry stopped the Confederate advance north and provided the impetus for President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Highlights

Museum, film, driving tour, Observation Tower, Pry House Medical Museum, cannons

Must-Do Activity

Your entrance fee allows you access to the museum and eight-mile driving tour, as well as 3,200 acres of beautiful Maryland countryside. Even though this site holds a grisly honor, today it is a charming open space with picturesque bridges and monuments, perfect for a pleasant walk or bike ride. During our visit, Burnside Bridge was being rebuilt after it collapsed in 2014. Overall, it is a much quieter spot than nearby Gettysburg National Military Park.

Best Trail

The park has more than doubled in size since 1990 and there are walking trails accessible all along the driving tour route. At a minimum, you should get out of the car to walk “Bloody Lane” before climbing up the Observation Tower.

Instagram-worthy Photo

A split-rail fence provided cover for Confederate troops on Sunken Road, also known as “Bloody Lane.” A nice view of it and the Maryland countryside is offered from the Observation Tower.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

$20 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Reservations are required for organized groups to camp within the park, but there is a walk-in campground located five miles south within Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. Greenbrier State Park offers a developed campground about 15 miles away.

Related Sites

Catoctin Mountain Park (Maryland)

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

Clara Barton National Historic Site (Maryland)

Explore More – How many Union soldiers are interred at Antietam National Cemetery (alongside veterans from four other wars)?

Nebraska

Homestead National Historical Park

July 21, 2020 Raven About The Parks 1 Comment

Overview

In the midst of the Civil War, a Republican-dominated legislature passed the Homestead Act of 1862, which allowed citizens to stake a claim to 160 acres of unappropriated government land. Until its repeal in 1976, over 270-million acres across 30 states were transferred from public land to private ownership under this law. Potential landowners had to apply and pay a fee then “prove up” their claim by farming at least 10 acres and building a home within five years. Nebraska’s Homestead National Monument of America was authorized in 1936 to remember this era of settlement and renamed in 2021.

Highlights

Heritage Center, film, Palmer-Epard cabin, Freeman School, restored tallgrass prairie

Must-Do Activity

Since 1939, half of this 200-acre piece of land has been managed to resemble the tallgrass prairie that existed here when the Freeman family claimed this T-shaped homestead on January 1, 1863. It was one of the first farms started after passage of the Homestead Act by Congress. Inside the Heritage Center, there are many unique exhibits that tell the story of settlement across the western United States of America (plus Florida). Do not forget to stop by the Education Center and one-room Freeman Schoolhouse that was used from 1872 to 1967.

Best Trail

At the park, 2.5 miles of walking trails connect the museums at the Heritage Center and the Education Center, passing by hedgerows of Osage-orange trees.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The Heritage Center’s roofline is designed to resemble a single-bottom plow stands and it sits at the edge of a restored tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Similar to Fort Scott National Historic Site and Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas, prescribed fire is used here to promote the growth of native plants.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved except a short section to access the parking lot for the Freeman School. The parking lot at the Heritage Center is exactly one acre in size to help visitors visualize the 10 acres required to farm for “proving up” a homestead.

Camping

Four miles east of the park, Beatrice, Nebraska has two city parks with campgrounds.

Scotts Bluff National Monument (Nebraska)

Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site (Arizona)

Each map shows the portion of each state that was homesteaded

Explore More – Which First Amendment right was first challenged in court because of its use in teaching at the one-room Freeman School?

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