How does one get to the Slyder farm?

[hoosier]

I tried starting this thread on the Campfire Chat forum and got no responses. I see that a thread about the Rose farm was recently redirected to this forum, so I'll try my luck over here.

The Stone Sentinels website indicates that the Slyder farm at Gettysburg "can be reached by trail from South Confederate Avenue or on foot from Emmitsburg Road."

It also indicates that the farm is 0.5 miles from the Emmitsburg Road, but the driveway from Emmitsburg Road is closed to non-authorized vehicles, so to get there from Emmitsburg Road, apparently one would have to park on the side of the road and then walk half a mile up the driveway to get to the farmhouse.

The website contains no specific directions on how to find the trail from South Confederate Avenue or how far it is from the beginning of the trail to the farmhouse.

Is anyone sufficiently familiar with the trail from South Confederate Avenue to tell me how to find it and how long a walk it is?

 

[pamc153PA]

Easy! Drive south on Emmittsburg Pike until you get to South Confederate Avenue, and turn left onto it. The Bushman farm will be down the hill on your left. From here, you can go in from two directions: either park your car at the picnic area on the right just past the Bushman farm, and walk back to the Bushman farm lane. If you walk down to the Bushman house, bear to the left on the lane, and continue past the Bushman house. Keep going, and you'll see the Slyder farm on the right. Or you can keep driving past the picnic area, the Alabama monument, the end of the Confederate line as you round the curve and go downhill; keep driving past the South Cavalry Field, the Wells monument, and the Dinosaur bridge, until you come to the three parking spaces just before you start uphill to the Big Round Top parking lot. Park in one of the spots, and start walking in on the path that goes into the D-shaped field. You'll go past the 1st Vermont monument at the top of the hill on the left, then descend the trail, through the woods and into the north part of South Cavalry Field/base of BRT. You'll be able to see the Slyder farm when you come out of the woods.

I often park one of those places I mentioned, and walk the loop, completely around a circle back to my car. It's a good walk, and usually empty, and especially pretty in the spring when the peepers are out in the marshy areas in front of the Slyder farm, and there are orange poppies, daffodils and irises blooming in the fields. If you walk it halfway, it's about 20 minutes to a half hour; if you walk the whole Loop, it's at least an hour. Depends on if you stop at the Slyder farm and look around.

 

[E_just_E]

Hi Hoosier. I hope that this helps:

You can see the path clearly. That empty area by Conf. Ave is the S Cavalyy field and the small dot by the path is the 1st VT Cav memorial

 

[hoosier]

Thanks, pamc153PA and E_just_E, for your help. That gives me a pretty good idea where to go.

My wife bought a spinning wheel made of wood from a tree on the Slyder Farm. She wants to go the farm sometime and have me take a picture of her with her wheel, so she can send the picture back to the guy who made the wheel. But she only wants to go on a day when the weather is going to be picture perfect - doesn't want to take any chances at all that the wheel might get wet in a sudden shower.