Your favorite spot on Gettysburg battlefield

My favorite is Culp's Hill, southern summit, east of the trenches. It 's a secluded spot in the woods that saw a lot of lead flying back and forth from late on July 2 until mid-day on July 3. So many different units fought at different times in the vicinity that much remains to be learned about the fighting there.

I tried to walk through the woods in the summer from that southern summit down to E. Confederate Ave. and got lost as it started to rain.
 
Which child do I like best? There are five major areas where ancestors fought on those three days, but I will pick 2. From McPherson Farm up towards Oak Ridge where 4 ancestors fought and the Peach Orchard where 4 others fought and 1 died. That spots holds special interest for my son and I.
 
One really spectacular and eerie walk that I would recommend is along the stone entrenchments set up by Hood's men along the western base of Big Round Top. It incorporates the natural boulders in the area, and one can imagine that it has been little altered in the past 155 years since it is far off existing foot trails.
 
I remember parking the car near tour stop 9, The Wheatfield and just having a wander around towards the Irish Brigade monument and the area heading back to the Devil's Den. There's so much to see and you get a great sense of the size of the area on foot. The Longstreet observation tower just after West Confederate avenue probably offers the best overall view of the Battlefield as you can see everything from the Round Tops to the Angle and all along Seminary Ridge.
 
The Rose Farm " Split Rock" area is my all time favorite. I visit it on every trip.

Followed closely by the Henry Fuller marker in the Rose Woods. The area is so quiet allowing a true reflection on the intensity of the battle.

Followed closely by the Meredith Avenue section of the Iron Brigade and the 26th NC.

Followed closely with the rest of the Battlefield.

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Can't name a favorite as the whole field gives me Goosebumps, more so around Culp's hill as more times or not you will be alone with your thoughts. 44 day countdown and than I'm crossing the pond and visiting again.
I know the feeling well about goosebumps throughout the whole battlefield! Hope those 44 days go by quickly, as I am sure you are anxious. Have a great visit!!!
 
Little Round Top is the family favorite. The kids like Devils Den the best. My favorite spot is the Sherfy farm. I can picture Barksdale's Mississippi and overwhelming the zouaves there. Second to that for me is McPherson's Woods.
Devils Den is another of our favorites. It is so difficult to choose one favorite spot, akin to choosing a favorite child.
 
It’s really hard for me to pick one spot, and even then, my favorites have varied over the years. When I first learned the battlefield 20 years ago, I was all about the Day 1 Field, but now I find myself returning again and again to the Day 2 Field. I like to park somewhere at the southern end of the field, and just hike in, disappearing into the battlefield. Usually, my hike includes the trolley path through the Triangular Field, the Rose Woods, Houck’s Ridge, the Stony Hill, Excelsior Field. I walk a lot. I also like the park at Spangler’s Spring and hike across Rock Creek to the Z. Taney farm ruins. I like the walk on the horse trail behind Pitzer Woods (where the outdoor amphitheater is) up the Henry Spangler farm lane all the way to Emmitsburg Road. And I usually walk up to Powers Hill, and drive Granite Schoolhouse Lane to see the deer at sunset. Lately, I have been driving to places off the battlefield, like Red Rock Road, Marsh Creek, the Round Barn, etc. because I love the area.

So as you can see, the “one” place on the battlefield that is my favorite is really all of it!
 
Hard to pick a favorite. I feel like the past few times I have been there, I have been for a particular purpose at a particular area. I do enjoy going places that require hiking shoes and bushwhacking and cannot be reached by vehicles and thus they are mostly quiet even in a nice summer weekend, and they follow on the footsteps of soldiers: Hiking up BRT, getting to the ECH from Conf. Ave., Getting to the top of Culps Hill from Conf. Ave, getting on the highest point on Oak Hill and having a look at the battlefield, and walking the Pickett's charge fields. As far as busier and easier to get places go, I think that my favorite one these days is the most ignored part of the battlefield: The town itself and its cemetery. Lots of things to try and find.

Least interesting? Probably the most visited place in the battlefield, the importance of which was fabricated in the brain of someone who was not even there...
 
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I like spending my mornings with John Buford when I'm there. I'll spend some time at his monument, watching for the Confederates to come from the west, ever diligent...

Count me in. I can channel John Buford on that morning, looking out across the valley and deciding that he was going to fight.

Buford, to me, is the most man in the world and I feel him so strongly there on McPherson ridge. Jyst talking about it sends a chill up my back.

Sorry.
 
Last April my buddy and I made our annual trip. One cold night we sat on the car at the top of Culps hill till the park closed down. Had the place to our selves the whole time. Like it there a lot. But on a personal note nothing beats the angle at sunset for me. I just lean against one of those 3" ordnance rifles and scan the field in front of me and try to see it in the minds eye.
 
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