I love Civil War history, so a visit to Chickamauga National Military Park was a must. My co-workers had said that the park had opened back up, and they had enjoyed their time there.
Let me just say … the beginning of our visit was a disaster! One co-worker told us about these trail maps that had questions that corresponded with the monuments and sites, almost like a scavenger hunt.
We printed one out for the General Bragg Trail and on Saturday morning, we set off. And we immediately got lost. So lost in fact, that we walked half a mile out of our way, one mile round-trip. Not to mention that Derek had already drank all of his water. So we went back to the car, bought a 24-pack of water and more snacks at a grocery store at the entrance of the park and started again. And we got lost again … and again.
It made me feel really stupid, especially because my co-worker had done that exact trail a week before, and she said the map with the turn by turn directions really helped her. What were we missing? We saw the marker for the trail where it started, but then we immediately lost the trail after the first monument.
There was a lot of arguing and a few tears that threatened to come out, but we managed to salvage the day. Eventually we just gave up on trying to find the General Bragg Trail, and we got into our car and saw everything by driving around.
The park is beautiful and easy enough to get around (unless you’re like us and can’t read a map apparently). There were a lot of interesting monuments with beautiful relief details. I enjoyed seeing the different cabins, some that were turned into on-site hospitals.
We were there all morning, and we only saw about half of the park. I would like to come back and explore more. Plus, the Visitor’s Center was closed, so I’d like to see that next time.
The Battle of Chickamauga was fought September 18–20, 1863. The Union lost, but they retreated to Chattanooga, where they would win a series of battles in November.
