Harpers Ferry

[tlyne]

I received fantastic results from my question about Monocacy and South Mountain, how about Harpers Ferry? What is "not miss" there? Thanks in advance.

 

[Rebforever]

See School House Ridge and Bolivar Heights. When going up to School House ridge I spotted an object moving along in the tree line which appear to be a Badger. Further investigation convinced me after looking at the den. If you make it to these few places, be sure to carry binoculars cause you never know what might be seen.

 

[SharonS]

I actually love the entire historic town. Sen Byrd may have directed a lot of federal pork there, but the result was fantastic. I would recommend going into each of the historic buildings that you can manage in and around Shenandoah Street. They either weren't changed much in 150 years or, more likely, were brought back to their 19th century appearance and you get an incredible feel for what it was like to be there during the war. By the way, it's easier to park at the visitor center and take the shuttle bus down into town, but during the off season you generally can find parking in the lot right in town.

 

[Andrew]

Pretty much anywhere around Harpers Ferry is worth visiting, in my opinion:

John Brown Museum - good museum
John Brown Wax Museum (fee) - cheesy but I liked it a lot
Park bookstore has a decent selection of books

1862 battle sites: There is a book version of a Blue & Gray magazine tour of HF that is worth getting if you want to visit the 1862 sites. It's probably available at the visitor center and/or book store

• Schoolhouse Ridge
• Bolivar Heights
• Murphy/Chambers farm - go all the way to the far end of this area for a nice overlook of the Shenandoah River
• Maryland Heights - challenging hike to see the Naval battery & overlook; even more challenging hike to continue up to the top of the heights
• Loudoun Heights - also challenging hike, but nice overlooks along the ridge

 

[dlavin]

wife and i spent yesterday in Harpers Ferry. Lovely town, chock full of CW history and prime for hiking. As Andrew mentioned above there are several hiking trails that follow the battle of Harpers Ferry. I do think they prefer you to park at the Visitors Center rather than try and park in Lower Town. We found a parking spot on a side street, but parking is definitely at a premium around the historic part of town.

We hiked the Maryland Heights trail, all the way up to the Stone Fort. it is definitely not for the faint of heart. But does offer some tremendous views. And the side bar hike to the Overlook provides an amazing view of the area. I think its like 6-7 miles r/t from the information center.

We also hiked parts of the School House North and South and bolivar Heights trails....so yeah we did a lot of walking. These trails are nowhere near as difficult as Maryland Heights. According to my fitness watch, we walked/hiked about 12-13 miles in all.

 

[dlavin]

View from the "overlook" trail from part of the MD Heights trail . My wife took this with her iPhone. Mine are all on a camera that I need to upload.

 

[James N.]

I received fantastic results from my question about Monocacy and South Mountain, how about Harpers Ferry? What is "not miss" there? Thanks in advance.

Here are a couple of threads that picture what I believe are some of the most important things to be seen in the vicinity:

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry.105129/

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-battle-of-harpers-ferry-jacksons-greatest-victory.104193/