RT Antietam National Battlefield

Park commemorating the American Civil War Battle of Antietam that occurred on September 17, 1862

General Information

Hours:

Battlefield grounds: Open daily during daylight hours
Visitor Center: Open daily 9:00am–5:00pm
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day

Fees:

Private Vehicle: $20 (valid for 3 days)
Motorcycle: $15 (valid for 3 days)
Per Person (walk-in/bicycle): $10 (valid for 3 days)
Antietam Annual Pass: $35

Pet Policy:

Pets are allowed throughout the battlefield but must be on a leash at all times. Pets are not permitted inside the Visitor Center, historic buildings, or Antietam National Cemetery.

Seasons:

All year (spring and fall are especially popular for hiking and battlefield tours; summer offers ranger programs; winter provides quieter exploration and photography opportunities)

Location:

5831 Dunker Church Road, Sharpsburg, MD 21782

Website:

nps.gov/anti

How to Get There

From Hagerstown, MD (approximately 12 mi): Take MD-65 south toward Sharpsburg, then follow signs to Antietam National Battlefield and the Visitor Center on Dunker Church Road.

Overview

Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg preserves the site of the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, which ended General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North and remains the bloodiest single day in American military history, with about 23,000 casualties. The Union victory let President Lincoln issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The site became a national battlefield site in 1890 and passed to the National Park Service in 1933.

Highlights

Visitor Center: exhibits, artifacts, maps, and an award-winning film; ranger talks and an audio tour for the 8.5-mile, eleven-stop driving tour
Key sites: Dunker Church, the Cornfield, Bloody Lane, and Burnside Bridge
Antietam National Cemetery: 11.36 acres with more than 4,976 interments, 1,836 unidentified
Pry House Field Hospital Museum: General McClellan's headquarters, on Civil War medicine
Monuments: more than a hundred monuments and markers

Top Trails

Trail	Length	Difficulty	Highlights
Bloody Lane Trail	About 0.75 miles round trip	Easy	The sunken road where some of the fiercest fighting took place
Burnside Bridge Trail	About 1 mile round trip	Easy	The stone bridge crossed by Union forces, with creek views
Cornfield and Dunker Church Trail	About 1 mile round trip	Easy	The opening stages of the battle
Battlefield walking paths	About 5 miles of routes	Easy	Interpretive signs on troop movements

This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles and official tourism pages for Antietam National Battlefield, released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.