Antietam National Battlefield

America’s bloodiest single day of fighting and the battle that encouraged Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Of all the major battlefields of the war, this is one of the best preserved. You can drive or walk much of it in a few hours, with various landmarks showing you the way. Even a speed tour will get you to most places in under an hour.
I started at the visitor’s center to pickup some brochures and listen to the park ranger speak in the auditorium overlooking the battlefield. I highly recommend it; he gave an exciting and educational beginning to the tour.
From there I drove over the tour route recommended in my guide, stopping at Dunker Church and infamous names like The Cornfield, Bloody Lane, and Burnside’s Bridge. At some locations I found volunteer guides who explained that particular niche of the battlefield. Given Antietam’s farmland is likely reminiscent of what it looked like 150 years ago, it’s easy to close your eyes and step back in time.
But don’t stay in the car the entire time. While the more famous places have parking lots, there are plenty of nooks that can only be seen on foot. Monuments from Civil War veterans abound in many otherwise empty fields, with statements such as ‘this monument stands on the line of companies; lost 38 Killed and Mortally Wounded’. It’s incredibly poignant to stand on the same ground.

This is one of the best battlefields to visit in America. The ranger staff was so informative and helpful. The driving tour stops you and has great boards at each location. It was a great experience and is a great place for every person to see.

I thought for years that Gettysburg was the Mecca of Civil War battlefield destinations. I was wrong. Located near South Mountain in beautiful Sharpsburg, Maryland, the Antietam National Battlefield park is easily accessible via interstate and state highway.
Unlike Gettysburg, Antietam is not a sprawling battlefield. You can see the Dunker Church, the Cornfield, and Bloody Lane in 30 – 45 minutes if you are a casual Civil War fan. I highly recommend biking the park. If you’re feeling adventurous, take a left after Bloody Lane and head up the road to Mclellan’s headquarters at Pry House.

Very good experience. We drove from site to site on an absolutely beautiful day. Worth the trip. May not be exciting enough for some… But you can hike, learn, and enjoy some beautiful historic sites

A beautiful and well maintained batttlefield park where Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia had their backs against the wall while defending themselves against the not so vigorous attacks of General George B. McClellan and his Army of the Potomac. The rangers at the visitor’s center were very friendly And friendly. Dave the brave. Lots of interesting things to see!

We booked a tour guide for this visit. Kevin was our guide for a 2-​hour tour. He is young and energetic and able to provide anyone a great overview of the battle. I had visited the Battlefield previously and he showed us the key locations and brought the battle and the men who fought here to life for us. If you’re visiting the Battlefield, book a tour!
What happened on this hallowed ground cannot be forgotten, and must be studied. You don’t have to be a Civil War buff to appreciate the bravery and desperate struggles that took place here.

The single bloodiest day in American history, that’s Antietam National Battlefield. I’ve visited the battlefield four times and going the weekend of the 152^nd anniversary of the battle was wonderful, the park ranger who lead the tour was a descendant of a union private who was killed in the Pennsylvania volunteer infantry.
If you’ve visited before, I would strongly recommend you do another ranger lead tour since every park ranger has his/​her own insights. There’s a handful of battlefields that are «musts» even if you’re into the Civil War, history or military. This is one of them.
Sharpsburg is not a tourist trap unlike Gettysburg but it still has a historic downtown, make sure to do your homework and at minimum watch a documentary on the battle before you visit on YouTube to familiarize yourself before you visit. It’ll make things a lot easier to understand and see when you physically get there.

*3.5 stars*
Battlefields just aren’t that interesting, but Antietam was the site of the Civil War’s bloodiest battle, and within easy driving distance of DC, it’s worth a visit. Stop at the visitors’ center first, pay your $ 6 for the vehicle (or $ 4 a person), check out the displays, watch the movie if you’d like, pick up a brochure that will help guide your driving tour. Many of the stops are a bit dull, but definitely don’t miss Burnside Bridge or the viewing tower.

This is our family’s 4^th or 5^th Civil War tour in the last few years, and Antietam ranks highly. We started with the visitor center’s movie, an excellent summary of the bloody battle’s events (and narrated by James Earl Jones, so of course it can’t be bad). We purchased the audio car tour and guidebook; at $ 20, it is a reasonably priced way to learn more about the battle beyond the free tour map and site markers. Prior to our visit, we had downloaded a Civil War app specific to Antietam to our phones but the poor cell reception in the area prevented us from successfully using this app or the digital media from the car audio tour. This was a disappointment to the kids, but did not affect the quality of our tour.
The tour itself is self guided, allowing you to set your own pace at each stop. Our group (including 3 children) spent over 2 hours on the battlefield, then took a break for lunch. I strongly recommend packing a picnic lunch to eat along the tour or planning your visit to end by lunchtime; the restaurant selection in the area is very meager unless you choose to drive 10 – 15 minutes away. We returned from lunch to finish the tour, all in all spending close to 5 hours at the site throughout the day. While one could certainly spend far less time visiting the area, this is about the amount of time it takes to read all the markers, listen to the car tour at each stop, and walk around a bit.
Antietam is worthy of a stop if you are already in the area to visit Gettysburg or Harper’s Ferry. It is a well done tour that really helps to recreate in the present day the horrors of losing 20,000 lives in one day of battle.

With nearby Gettysburg, you may not chose to come here. The historical significance of Gettysburg makes it the more popular choice. This place should not be ignored. Go inside the visitor center and purchase a ticket. The park is based on an honor system; you could take the drive without paying, but it’s a small fee to maintain and preserve the battlefield. Plus, the orientation movie gives you a quick history of Antietam. If you don’t know or forgot, this is a must do. Then, you can drive around the park and really get an appreciation of what the perspective of the soldiers. You will need a car. I suggest the weekday due to the fact that many of the tour stops has limited parking. Realize that in one single day, over 23,000 men died in battle. Then your tour will give you an understanding of the life of a civil war soldier.

It is laid out more as a car tour. There are some hiking/​walking trails and you can pull off at different marker points. It was worth the trip but not something you plan to do a second time in the near future. It is mainly rolling fields.

A great national park for the civil war buff and kids alike. We went on National Junior Ranger day and there was a lot of activities for the kids and people dressed in period soldier uniforms. There is a great self guided auto tour twisting through fields peppered with monuments and some historic out buildings. The roads are relatively flat a great place to run with the dog or leisurely bike.

The last thing anyone would call me is a history buff. So, it’s a bit of an understatement to say that I approached Antietam National Battlefield with a little skepticism as to how interesting I’d actually find it. But… it exceeded my expectations.
Let me preface this by saying that we had a professional historian with our group, who was able to bring life and a vivid picture to each location. The grounds themselves are beautiful and full of history, artifacts, and informational plaques and memorials. It becomes easy to imagine the battles that took place there so many years ago.
Your starting point for the tour is the visitors center, where you pay for your admission (which I’m guessing, is based strictly on the honor system) and grab a map of the grounds. As a heads up, if you need to use the bathroom, the time to do so is now because I didn’t see another one on any other part of the grounds.
Overall, it was a great experience and visit and I definitely look forward to a return visit.

4 ½. I can’t quite give Antietam 5 stars because my standard is Gettysburg but this battlefield was the 2^nd best National Battlefield Park. I went to on my History Self-​Guided Tour. Its lesser known but worth the drive. Amazingly a lot of the terrain looks the same as General George McClellan saw it 1862. I probably saw more than him because he spent most of his time hiding somewhere else.lol. Ok, bad Civil War joke but This place made it simple and easy for anyone to learn about this important battle of the Civil War. I felt there was just enough plaques to tell the stories of the area without feeling overwhelmed.
We took the route of the battlefield self tour. Basically there were kind of three uncoordinated battles that took place here. The first one was the corn field. We had to go here because this is where Colonel Shaw fought from the movie Glory. We moved down to the sunken road where probably 100s to possible 1000s lost their lives in a bloody field and road. It had a nice walk were the Confederates held their ground. Finally the tour takes you to Burnside Bridge. This place I felt a strange sadness more than anywhere else on the battlefield. I was just trying to imagine taking orders from that idiot of a General, Burnside, trying charge across a bridge getting shot at by well entrenched Confederate troops. The way that they kept this place really made you feel like you were there. In some ways more so than Gettysburg (since it is so commercialized).
Overall I have to recommend it to anyone who has even the slightest interest in the Civil War should visit this place.

SELF-​GUIDED BIKE TOUR TIPS HERE :)
This was my first time visiting a Civil War battlefield and I was so impressed how comprehensive and clean the Antietam National Battlefield was. I saw that the roads were paved and sparsely trafficked, so I took the opp. to bike and visit all major points of the battle.
The roads are smooth and a road bike is all you need, but mountain bike will be fine too. I would allow at least an hour for each of the three phases of the battle. It’s a wide expanse with plaques and commemorative monuments every fifty yards or so. I’m glad I reviewed what actually happened in each spot before getting to the battlefield. I also had my iPhone loaded with audio tours from iTunes.
Going in order of the actual day, I went from the cornfield area, to the Bloody Lane, to the Burnside Bridge.
Most of the cornfield roads are flat, and the road leading to the Bloody Lane is uphill, so it’s all pleasant. The road to the Burnside Bridge is the longest trek, and very hilly, mostly downhill to the bridge. It was an odd rush speeding down a vacant road between Civil War split-​rail fences during sunset. The countryside is very peaceful.
The ride back to the Visitors Center will be very uphill, so hopefully you’re in shape for that. I was a bit rushed at 3 hours, so plan for this visit. All in all, an amazing experience that I think is still underrated in the national conscience.

One of the bloodiest and least known Civil War battles; overshadowed by Gettysburg. If you have been to numerous Civil War establishments you tend to notice a pattern… a lot of development around the battlefields and some where the development ends up on the battlefield. (See Orange County, VA — Wal Mart… God I HATE Walmart.) This is probably my favorite battlefield that I have visited. For the most part it is undisturbed by development and man because the government did not purchase the land to preserve back in the day. The government just declared it a battlefield and allowed the farmers to keep farming. In essence this preserved the land and kept it perfect for you and I to enjoy. All the sightlines are preserved and you can basically see what the soldiers were seeing from the top of the hill in the visitor’s center.
The battlefield is almost unchanged at each of the 3 phases. At Burnside’s bridge you can still see the South’s position and the bridge is virtually unchanged. The bloody lane is still a sunken road off to the side of the real road and can be viewed from high in the observations tower. The bloody cornfield is also present and yes it is still a cornfield. 23,000 Americans died this day, the bloodiest day in US history. If you do not get chills from hearing the stories and seeing the positions held on both sides, then I don’t know what to tell you. Everyone should come to this place. It is a gorgeous, well preserved piece of history and I am thankful I got to spend 2 days here. Highly recommend it.

The little brother to Gettysburg is often overshadowed and overlooked but is well worth it. The park sits just outside of Sharpsburg, just a bit south of I-​70 and a bit east of I-​81, signage off of both and on the roads leading clearly marked. So getting to it from either DC or Baltimore isn’t much of a hassle. Parking looks like it could be an issue on days where they could be really busy, but for the sunday afternoon i went, with perfect weather, i didn’t have any issues finding a space.
The main parking area sits just outside of the visitors center, which i can’t say much on being i have yet to step a foot in it. Right from the get your within spitting distance of several monuments and battlefield sites. But don’t let this fool you, this park is expansive. I would recommend getting a map from visitor center. The main tour is a self guided auto tour, you’ll see the blue markers around the roadways. Don’t stay in your car the whole time, get out and explore the sites and monuments. There are also a number of trails that run though the park, many of which are interconnected. Most will run you though parts of the battlefield, while others (like the farm trails) will take you more into the wilderness areas along Antietam Creek.
Speaking of the wilderness, don’t think Antietam is all about the battle. This is a great spot for enjoying nature in Western Maryland. The views from many of the high points of the park into the surrounding areas are stunning. On top of it, there is a lot, and i mean a lot of wildlife to observe. A number of species of butterflies pass through or are residents of the parks. Not uncommon to see dear or rabbit as well. Also a number of bird species, all of which the Park Service can help you out in identifying. But the most ubiquitous furry creature is the groundhog, and you will see many of them in the summer. If you see a big hole in the ground somewhere, it’s more than likely a groundhog burrow.
One of the big things i like about Antietam as opposed to Gettysburg is that the area surrounding it isn’t significantly developed. Not a number of hotels, resorts, shops, and related things. The area has kept its small town, Western Maryland, rural character. With that, i would also recommend checking out the small (and i do mean small) town of Sharpsburg if you have a chance, it’s right adjacent to the park. The town is quaint and small with a couple of shops and taverns on the main drags. Your also not to far away from Shepherdstown, Boonsboro, Williamsport, and Hagerstown (it being the largest of the communities).

This bloody battle took place BEFORE Gettysburg, wish they had a guided tour bus though like Gettysburg has.
Stop by the visitors center to get your map, check out some exhibits and the short film narrated by James Earl Jones. They charge either per person or by car… not sure how it works, but we paid the car price. The ticket of admission they give you is stamped and valid for 3 days should you decide to return.
You have to drive around on your own and honestly a couple of the stops are confusing since they require you to turn around on the same path you were before. It has 11 stops, last one being the national cemetery… or you could do out of order and just go to the national cemetery first since it is OUTSIDE the battlefield grounds and lies within a residential neighborhood on the way into town. There are blue arrow signs saying «tour» directing you though, just be on the look out for those blue signs and memorial markers.
Pry House (the general’s house that was used as a temporary hospital) is near by too, but we did not have time to stop by. Not sure if they accept that «valid for 3 days» parking ticket from the visitor center or not though.

Perhaps more than any other United States park, Antietam is sacred, sorrowful ground.
While the park appears to be empty farmland and somber fields, the visitor center and historical markers remind the visitor that these lands were sowed with blood. It is a cemetery without gravestones and the land where the greatest number of Americans lost their lives in a single day.
The blood of patriots – Union and Confederate – was spilled everywhere along these roads and fields. It’s a reminder that we should never stop talking and a warning to those that speak of revolution.
Needless to say, it’s a thought-​provoking park, a place for quiet reflection, and a wonderful memorial to our history.

What a great piece of history! I know the basics about the civil war (stuff that we all learned in school) but my husband is a civil war buff so we chose to go here as a ½ day trip from Chantilly, VA.
There’s no way (that I know of) to get here from Chantilly on an interstate. It takes about an hour and a half but come here without rushing it. The VA/​MD countryside is absolutely precious and peaceful… you feel like you stepped back into America of yesteryear. The town of Sharpsburg is also quaint (not a whole lot of dining options so be prepared to stop somewhere else or bring food with you).
Start the tour at the visitor’s center where you purchase your tickets and definitely watch the 20 minute movie because you’ll have a much deeper appreciation for what happened here during the battle. It’s one of the best layouts for a self-​guided, driving tour. Each landmark is clearly defined and the signs along the way explain the relevance of the event/​location. My most memorable spots were the Burnside Bridge and Bloody Lane – it’s unnerving to think how much violence and bloodshed these otherwise peaceful spots have seen.