gettysburg
gonna do a section hike in southern PA in april. has anyone done gettysburg? how much time should be spent there?
You can spend 2 or 3 days hiking the battlefield. I did the left side (union left) in one day at the ALDHA gathering. It was hot and I drank a LOT of water. I find the battlefield is most appreciated if you get out at the crack of dawn. It's beautiful in the morning.
Make sure to go to the museum at the visitors center.
If you don't have something nice to say,
Be witty in your cruelty.
A couple of days should do it. The park rangers offer a guided tour of the main parts of the park and the battlefield, cost 50 bucks a few years back. Well worth it, they take you to the sites and let you know what happened there. I had read several books about the battle, but standing there and hearing about it was pretty awesome, the way the Ranger was describing it, you could almost hear Chamberlain tell his men to fix bayonets on Little Round Top.
You can pick up a little booklet on the
Gettysburg Heritage Trails Program. It's a scout hiking/history program for the battlefield. You can order it online, and I have seen a few copies in the visitor center gift shop. There's a lot of basic history in the booklet and directions for hiking the battlefield sort of off the beaten path. It covers a short tour of the town, a tour along the union lines, and a tour along the confederate lines. There's also a tour of the Eisenhower farm, but you reach that by a park service bus, I believe.
If you have an MP3 player, the NPS Gettysburg website has a link to podcasts done by certified battlefield guides. On my last trip to Gettysburg, I carried a couple of those along on my iPod and wandered around as directed in the podcasts, and I enjoyed that quite a bit, especially in the Little Roundtop area..
Don't miss the visitor center. Tons of information there, and you might want to pay for a certified battlefield guide, which you book at the visitor center. We've used them for everything from bus groups to hikes with just a couple of people. The guides are fantastic and well worth the money.
Wow, I find this site, register and cool, a thread about my favorite place is right there!Originally Posted by Newb
Just FYI, I parked my vehicle and hiked all over Gettysburg this past fall. I was refused entrance to the museum/visitor's center due to having my pack with me. They would not let me leave it at the door, or at the security booth or anything. I understood the need, and didn't have an issue with it, it's a security thing. But just FYI, don't expect to be able to go into these with a pack, even a daypack.
We took a zero from the trail and did it last year. My hubby drove up to meet us so we did a driving tour. Paul Bunyan watched the map show in the museum which is a good starting point. When we were there a lot of pieces were missing from the museum since they are building a brand new visitor center, so don't need to spend much time there. I know you can do the tour in a day if you go by car and supplement with some of the walking tours they advertise. Some parts of the battlefield would take a bit to walk to though. Also, if you go after Memorial Day, watch out for a zillion Boy Scouts on the trails. And the heat.
Depends on how much of an American History buff you are. You can speed tour it completely in two days or spend a week.
It is a huge site.
Go and take the time it takes.
What's the best 'one day' tour?
I took a zero and did a motorcycle tour of the area with someone I met that was staying at the Ironmaster's Mansion. I had a blast. Then again I am not one to take my time at places. We just drove around and hit up the museum.
Depends on your style. You can sign-up for a guided tour and just listen to a guide all day or you can take a hiking tour and follow along in a book. We did this with our boy scouts two falls ago and followed a 9 mile self-guided walking tour for a badge that made you work at learning the various points of interest. Very cool. That said, if you are already on a long-distance hike, you may not want to hike 9 miles there, even if it is flat.
If you're pressed for time, and you don't want to walk, you can take a self-guided tour by car. Plenty of places to get out and walk. I did this a couple of summers ago and enjoyed the park very much.
You can spend a half a day at "Little Round Top".
Alabama boys had a real bad day there, others too.
Half a day? Been there several times, didn't seem enough to do for half a day (!) - and usually lots of people milling around also. But if you include walking down to the Devils Den area, taking the walking loop around nearby Big Round Top, maybe.
I completely agree. My great-great grandfather was with the 13th Vermont Volunteers and fought at Gettysburg. I had read about his unit, but it meant much more when I visited the park. His regiment was a part of the swinging gate maneuver that outflanked Pickett and resulted in his defeat. Hearing the guide describe it at the actual site was awesome.
I stand corrected.
"I" could spend a half a day at that site area and monuments.
HYOH
I have taken a busload of men and boys about 3x per year for the last 6 years. It is an awesome place and as many times as I have been there is always something new I see or learn on each trip. You can spend as little or as much time there as you have but either way you won't be able to absorb it all. Late April is a great time to go...I'll be there the 24/25th. The new visitors center is scheduled to open by the middle of April and is supposed to be very nice. Pickett's Buffet is located across Emmittsburg Road from the existing visitors center and it is an all you can eat supper for about $11. Get one of the NPS brochures from the visitor center. It has a great map and good info about the battlefield. Park Guide might be an option but beware they have a revisionist, politically correct interpretation they must follow. Usually they ride (or drive) your vehicle so I'm not sure how that works if you have gotten to Gettysburg on foot. Take the time to stop...I don't think you will be disappointed.
I hitched there on my thru and spent a day at the museum and hiking the grounds.
Hike Pickett's Charge from west to east -- toward "The Copse Of Trees" and see the charge as the people who were charging saw it. It's about 3/4 of a mile hike across a field.
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, although fiction, will offer a very good picture of the Battle of Gettysburg and is a very interesting read for your trip to Gettysburg. It was a national bestseller.
Then afterward, hike to Little Round Top and hike down the south side of the hill to the bottom. The Battle of Little Round Top is also included in The Killer Angels book.
Datto
This is definately one of the best hikes in the park. To complete the experience though, you should sit under the copse of trees at "The Angle" after you walk it and watch other people walk across the route of Pickett's "charge" and just measure how long it takes them to make the trip. All the while try and imagine that you're holding a musket and looking at them as a target. It gives you a whole new perspective and appreciation of the charge.
Best tent for Gettysburg:
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
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