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Thread: Antietam and Harpers Ferry Battlefield

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    Antietam and Harpers Ferry Battlefield

    Tomorrow I will be seeing Antietam and Harpers Ferry, do y'all have any recommendations on what to see? I will try to see as much as possible.
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    WoR-Dev TrustyJam's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saris View Post
    Tomorrow I will be seeing Antietam and Harpers Ferry, do y'all have any recommendations on what to see? I will try to see as much as possible.
    At Harper's I'd recommend you crossing the Potomac from the town and hike up the Maryland heights for a great overview of the town. Bit of a trip though so bring good shoes. :P

    At Antietam I'd recommend you to pass up the option of driving from point of interest to point of interest and walk instead. Gives you a much better overall feeling in regards to the landscape I think.

    Enjoy your trip!

    - Trusty

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    Wake up early so you have plenty of time for both. The firehouse used by John Brown during his raid is open during the day at Harpers Ferry, and the whole town has a great feel to it. You'll have to most likely park outside of the town and either walk in or take the bus. There's a good parking lot west of town off of route 340, but it fills up quick. Check out the Shenandoah Pulp Mill on Virginius Island while you're walking in if you find a spot in that lot. St. John’s Episcopal Church up on the hill above the town is cool too, it was used as both a barracks and as a hospital during the Civil War.

    Sharpsburg is great as well. Head over to the visitors center and wander around the Dunker Church. Trusty made a good point about driving. If you're short on time, that'll help save some, just make sure you wander around the different locations on foot. Burnside Bridge has some walking trails and you can even check out the ford downstream where Union troops tried to cross the creek.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Duffy View Post
    Wake up early so you have plenty of time for both. The firehouse used by John Brown during his raid is open during the day at Harpers Ferry, and the whole town has a great feel to it. You'll have to most likely park outside of the town and either walk in or take the bus. There's a good parking lot west of town off of route 340, but it fills up quick. Check out the Shenandoah Pulp Mill on Virginius Island while you're walking in if you find a spot in that lot. St. John’s Episcopal Church up on the hill above the town is cool too, it was used as both a barracks and as a hospital during the Civil War.

    Sharpsburg is great as well. Head over to the visitors center and wander around the Dunker Church. Trusty made a good point about driving. If you're short on time, that'll help save some, just make sure you wander around the different locations on foot. Burnside Bridge has some walking trails and you can even check out the ford downstream where Union troops tried to cross the creek.
    Hey Duf, Trusty suggested NOT driving! LOL Just thought I'd point that out, seems like you may have misread.

    Here is a link to the NPS trail list, if you haven't referenced it: Antietam Trails

    I'd suggest grabbing a colorized hiking trail map from the visitor center, because there are little details of following the map that make sure you reach points along the trail that keeps you on the correct path. For example, making your way to the Mumma Farm and around certain buildings to keep you on track.

    It really depends on how you want to see the battlefield. Me personally, I'd recommend trying to see it based on how the battle went chronologically. I'd start by going to the visitor center to maybe pick up some hiking trail maps, but I'd also suggest visiting the observation room on the 2nd floor of the visitor center while you're there, to become visually familiar with the basics of the battlefield and the battle. See if NPS Ranger Mike (older guy with a gray goutee) is there and whether he's scheduled for a talk in the observation room or if he'd be willing to do one (he's very good). Sometimes they do what is called a "Caravan" tour also, that might be of interest to you, but you'd have to find out if one is scheduled.

    The observation room has key points, distances, and directional labels around the room, designating points of interest. Check them out.

    Though I agree with Trusty about walking, I don't think you can go wrong by following the auto-tour in terms of seeing things chronologicallly. To change up the auto-tour, just throw in a walk here and there. For example, the auto tour stop 1 should find you at the Dunker Church right across from the visitor center. Stop and check it out. Stop 2 will drive you past the Miller Farm and to a parking lot where you can take the "Cornfield Trail" walk which would cover the morning battle and the primary location of the most casualties during the battle. By this point, you can breeze by the auto-tour stop 3, 4, and 5 and do as much or as little out-of-the-car stuff as you'd like. As the Cornfield Trail would have likely covered stops 3 and 4. Stop 5 is across the street at the West Woods. The West Woods Trail is rather boring.

    Stop 6 will offer you a chance at Mumma Farm. Before you get to the Mumma Farm, I'd stop as you approach it, and visit the family cemetery there. You should know it when you see it. It's a one way road that leads to the farm and you'll have to drive right past the cemetery to get there. The cemetery offers a nice view from slightly above the farm. You can skip this if you go to the visitor center and decide to do the next thing I'm going to suggest.

    From here, I'd consider doing "The Bloody Lane" trail walk. That will cover auto-tour stop 6, 7 and part of 8. But upon getting back to the visitor center after the trail walk, I'd drive over to auto-tour stop 8, so you can park at Bloody Lane, and go up inside the observation tour. This also allows you to proceed to auto-tour stops 9 and 10, which are Burnside's Bridge and The Final Attack. You should also drive because these are through quite undulating terrain that I would not suggest walking and are more dislocated than all the previous stops on the battlefield. Ranger Mike did tell me once that he believes that the Snavely's Ford Trail is one of the most pleasant on the battlefield.

    The only other stop on the auto-tour would be to finish up at the National Cemetery, stop 11.

    I'd then consider visiting the Pry House which is on Maryland 34. Just head east on 34 after leaving auto-tour stop 11. The Pry House is run by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and was General McClellan's HQ and a Field Hospital.

    I hope this helps, and please do enjoy your visit to Maryland!!

    Additional things in case you have not become familiar with them.
    Antietam Auto Tour Map
    Last edited by dmurray6; 08-16-2017 at 12:37 AM.
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  5. #5

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    Of course going "off map" allows sites that might otherwise be missed.
    For example:

    The Upper Bridge, (Keedysville Road Bridge,) still exists and is used daily.
    The Pry Mill still exists, though it appears to have been turned into a private residence.
    The Pry Ford can still be found with a bit of exploration.
    The Middle Bridge, (Boonsboro Pike Bridge,) appears long gone, but there is a pull over spot where you can park and explore the creek for any signs of remnants.

    I know I am late with this, but for those near enough, it could prove beneficial.

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    Quote Originally Posted by dmurray6 View Post
    Hey Duf, Trusty suggested NOT driving! LOL Just thought I'd point that out, seems like you may have misread.
    Yep, he did say that... was running on little sleep when I wrote this

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    Quote Originally Posted by Duffy View Post
    Yep, he did say that... was running on little sleep when I wrote this
    Oh hey, been there and done that. No harm done. Get some sleep man
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    Quote Originally Posted by A. P. Hill View Post
    Of course going "off map" allows sites that might otherwise be missed.
    For example:

    The Upper Bridge, (Keedysville Road Bridge,) still exists and is used daily.
    The Pry Mill still exists, though it appears to have been turned into a private residence.
    The Pry Ford can still be found with a bit of exploration.
    The Middle Bridge, (Boonsboro Pike Bridge,) appears long gone, but there is a pull over spot where you can park and explore the creek for any signs of remnants.

    I know I am late with this, but for those near enough, it could prove beneficial.
    Yup, what A.P. said. I avoided some of these as they are off the beaten path. But he's right, these are cool things to see. Problem with the Pry Mill is that it seems to be privately owned as a residence, so you can only drive past it and take a gander.

    Ahhh CRAP, sorry about the double post!
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  9. #9

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    Thanks for all the advice, I had a great time exploring Antietam. I asked the park rangers if they knew about war of Rights and they said yes and wondering if it was out. I only walked through Miller's Cornfield due to time. About Harpers Ferry I walked around the town and the old US armoury area and crossed the bridge to Maryland.

  10. #10

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    When you go to the Sunken Road take one of the Walnuts. I know this sounds crazy but most of those trees were there during the battle. It is a fine souvenir. Also don't go down the hill overlooking Rohrbach's Bridge. The quarry is still there just overgrown. And you might hurt yourself.

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