Places To Go

The Museum and Visitor Center

(National Park Service)

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MUSEUM AND VISITOR CENTER

The National Park Service Museum and Visitor Center at 1195 Baltimore Pike (Rt. 97) is the place to begin your visit. The center offers information on park tours and local information, a museum that illustrates the story of the Civil War and the epic Battle of Gettysburg, the film "A New Birth of Freedom" narrated by award winning actor Morgan Freeman, and the Gettysburg Cyclorama, the 1884 depiction of the final fury at Gettysburg, "Pickett's Charge". The center also hosts a Resources Room with information on park exhibits and soldier search databases, an expansive bookstore and Refreshment Saloon. Refer to our Fees and Reservations page for the price of entry to the museum exhibits, film and cyclorama program. The Museum and Visitor Center is operated by the Gettysburg Foundation.

 

The Museum and Visitor Center is open daily from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. from November 1 to March 31, and from 8:00 to 6:00 P.M. from April 1 through October 31. The center is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Check our Operating Hours and Seasons page for further information.

The park is open daily and visitors may drive their vehicles to many of the places known in battlefield lore- Culp's Hill, McPherson's Ridge, Cemetery Hill, Spangler's Spring, Devil's Den, the Peach Orchard, Little Round Top, and the "High Water Mark" to name but a few. The park also has hiking trails, a horse trail, and welcomes on-road bicyclists.

Within walking distance of the Visitor Center is the Soldiers' National Cemetery where Union dead from the Battle of Gettysburg were buried and today is the resting place for veterans and their families from all wars. It is also the place where President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. Park visitors usually make the cemetery a must-see stopping point during their visit. The cemetery is open from dawn to sundown, with parking located in Ziegler's Grove at the intersection of Hancock Avenue and Taneytown Road. The cemetery is closed to vehicular traffic with the exception of mobility impaired visitors who must obtain a permit from the National Park Service at the Museum and Visitor Center before entering the cemetery.

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The David Wills House

(Main Street Gettysburg)

THE DAVID WILLS HOUSE

Attorney David Wills' home in Gettysburg was not just in the center of Gettysburg, it was the center of the immense clean-up process after the Battle of Gettysburg and where President Abraham Lincoln put the finishing touches on his Gettysburg Address. The speech transformed Gettysburg's community from a place of devastation to the symbol of our nation's new birth of freedom.

The Wills House museum features six galleries, two of which include rooms that have been restored to their 1863 appearance: Will's office where he received letters from families looking for loved ones after the battle and undertook plans for a national cemetery and its dedication; and the bedroom where Lincoln stayed the night before he delivered the Gettysburg Address.

The Wills House is operated by the Gettysburg Foundation, the official support organization with Gettysburg National Military Park, and is listed on the Register of National Historic Places.

The Wills House is open from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. daily from May 1 through August 30 every year with limited hours during the rest of the year:
April, September and October: Wednesday through Monday from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. (closed Tuesdays)
November and December: Saturday and Sunday only from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. (closed weekdays)
January and February: Saturday from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. and Sunday from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. only. (closed weekdays)
March: Thursday through Monday, from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.

There is a fee to enter the Wills House. For further information, visit or Fees and Reservations page and the official web site for the David Wills House at davidwillshouse.org.

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McMILLAN WOODS YOUTH CAMPGROUND

McMillian Woods Youth Campground is open to scout troops and youth organizations on a seasonal basis by reservation only. Reservations for camping at the site are accepted by a lottery system, beginning the first of every year. There is no commercial campground in the battlefield park and individual camping is not allowed within the park. MORE