Gettysburg National Military Park

Incredibly over 6,000 acres have been preserved as the Gettysburg National Military Park (open all year from 6 am to 10 pm), securing for all time one of our history’s most poignant battles and a war, tragically fought brother against brother, friend against friend, countryman against countryman. A few homes and farms, pastures and cornfields divided by the old split rail fences are scattered across the vast acreage. With the exception of the over 1,400 monuments that adorn the acreage placed by veterans to honor their fallen comrades, it is almost as if time has stood still. An ideal way to tour the park is by car with two well marked Auto Tours (one two-hour and one three-hour itinerary) signed and easy to follow along the predominately one lane roads that spider web through the park.Begin at the Visitor Center (open daily 8 am to 5 pm or 6 pm depending on the season, closed holidays) where you can obtain a complimentary map that details the two routes and explains significant points of interest as signposted and numbered along the routes. At the Visitor Center you can also view the Electric Map Presentation that, through the use of color lights superimposed on a large relief map, offers a narrated orientation to the battle and Gettysburg Address. Through a program referred to as the Licensed Battlefield Guide Service, it is also possible at the Visitor Center to hire a guide to accompany you in your own vehicle on a two-hour tour of the battlefield. Guides are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Seasonally, there are also buses with knowledgeable guides that depart from the center. Also available for purchase or rental are Audio Tape Programs. Note: In addition to the programs offered by the park service, there are also a number of commercial tours offered by companies near the park.Adjacent to the Visitor Center is the Cyclorama Center which contains exhibits, paintings and the 360° painting that depicts Pickett’s Charge—one of the defining moments of Gettysburg with the climatic attack by the Confederates. A sound and light presentation using the painting as a backdrop takes approximately 20 minutes. (Note: The painting is currently being restored and hence, is not available to view, nor will there be a sound and light presentation until the restoration is finished. Also, the painting will then be relocated to a new visitor center which is currently being built and will replace the existing one—all with an estimated completion for sometime in 2007-2008.) Also, neighboring the Visitor Center is the Soldier’s National Cemetery open all year from dawn until sunset as is the Eisenhower National Historic Site. Purchased in the 1950s, the complex of three farm buildings served as a refuge for the President and Mrs. Eisenhower during his time in Washington and then later became their retirement home. The home and grounds transferred to the National Park Service in 1979. The home and immediate grounds are open to the public by shuttle bus from the Visitor Center.