Antietam National Battlefield Visitor Center - Sharpsburg, Maryland

Amber C.

There's plenty of parking, restrooms, a gift shop, video and observation tower. There's a $20 fee per vehicle. We got a map and went on the driving tour. It was Wednesday afternoon and we had the park to ourselves. This battlefield has been amazingly well preserved. It looks just like it did in 1862. The views are expansive and there's almost no sign of modernity. This is hallowed ground and you can feel the somberness of it. I appreciated the Dunker church, sunken lane and Burnside's bridge. It was surreal to walk the sunken lane. I will never forget it. Burnside's bridge looks untouched by time. There's a large tree beside it called the "witness tree" because it was there in battle photos. You can't touch it though because they want to preserve it.

Kerry B.

Beautiful and solemn. Be certain to take in the movie about this battle at the visitors center. It is new, produced in the last two years and very well done.

Gary M.

A fantastic experience. Spent an afternoon driving and walking the tour. Engaging staff at the visitors center, immaculate grounds with easy to follow directions, and plenty of places to park and walk. Highly recommended.

John M.

This is such a beautiful place! Open fields with postcard perfect farm houses dotting the land. Even without the history, this place is enjoyable to visit. The visitor center is small (nothing like Gettysburg) with bathrooms, a gift shop, an observation room that looks over part of the battlefield, a theatre with introductory film, and two small rooms of battle-related artifacts. When I visited, the artifacts were missing due to a "water leak". I am not sure what my $20 admission fee was for other than a donation for battlefield maintenance.

I chose to tour the battlefield using the Auto Tour route found on the National Park Service map found at the visitor center. You can complete the tour fairly quickly by never exiting your car, but I got out at every tour stop to read interpretive panels and take in the scenery. You can enter the Dunker Church at Stop #1 and climb the Sunken Road/Bloody Lane Tower. I highly encourage getting to the top of the tower. The view is definitely worth it!

LarryS

We really enjoyed the 3 or so hours we spent here. Ranger talk and the movie are very informative. The drive through the park makes more sense after you have heard / seen talk and movie. Staff is friendly and helpful. Very well kept NP.

montana H.

Park rangers are absolutely awesome. Unfortunately at the time that we went a lot of the artifacts were not out due to a leak in the display area but they were able to bring some of the hands on items for my children out to show them what items went into the cannons which was really cool.

David B.

At once this is a deeply moving site, but with a bit of patience and reflection it becomes an inspiration in grasping what is required to keep this country free. I wish the many sadly radical attitudes were made to watch, see, and think in this battleground - maybe they would realize the fragility of this experiment in liberty.

Evan G.

This was my first time visiting a battlefield and it was an incredible experience. The visitor center has a 25-ish minute video that provides the historical context for the battle, as well as the events that took place. The park provides a guided driving tour with 10 locations, each location containing signs with info on the events that took place, as well as maps of the troop movements. You can also choose walk to the different locations via the extensive series of trails throughout the park, although it would be quite a bit of walking. The park is in excellent condition and the facilities are pristine. Highly recommend taking a day to visit this battlefield!