* Beginning October 1, 2019, fees for house tours will increase to $8 for adults; and $5 for adults 62 and older, including all America the Beautiful Interagency pass holders.
Carl Sandburg Home NHS is open 7 days a week, year round. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Days.
- The average visitor spends two hours at "Connemara."
- Please be prepared for your comfort - wear comfortable clothing and walking shoes.
- There is a limited selection of snack foods and bottled water to purchase from the bookstore. Water is available at fountains (bring your own bottle). Please recycle any purchased water bottles.
Facilities: Including Sandburg Home and Goat Barn
Open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. year-round, closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Days.
Admission: Free for grounds, trails and barn; no park entrance fee.
Guided House Tour Fee: (cash or check only. Credit cards accepted October 1, 2019)
$5.00 for Adults 16 and older, $8.00 on October 1, 2019
$3.00 for seniors 62 and older, $5.00 on October 1, 2019
$3.00 for Access and Active Military Pass holders, $5.00 on October 1, 2019
Children 15 and under admitted free.
- Passes: The park sells the America the Beautiful- National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes.
*These passes do not waive the house tour fee, but do provide a discount.
- 30-minute house tours are offered every day, once an hour, first come-first served.
- First tour begins at 9:30am; next tours at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, the last tour begins at 4:30pm.
- During busy visitation additional tours may be added.
- Visitors may only tour the Sandburg Home on a guided tour.
- Tours are limited to 15 persons (limited to 12 persons on October 1, 2019).
- Advanced reservations will be available through recreation.gov beginning October 1, with the first reserved tour available on December 1, 2019.
Parking: Free parking is available at the entrance to the park. The parking lot has three oversize vehicle parking spaces for RV's and buses. Vehicles with trailers will be unable to park in these spaces and should use the playhouse lot across the street subject to availability. On busy days the lot fills quickly.
Additional Parking Options
- There is a new Hikers' Parking Lot located 1/2 mile down Little River Rd from the Visitor Parking Lot for visitors who are just coming to enjoy a hike in the park.
- Visitors may use the Flat Rock Playhouse lot directly across the street in the morning until noon and in the afternoon when there are no performances. There will be signs posted at the playhouse to restrict parking for performances. Please be a courteous neighbor and pay attention to their signs.
- Visitors may park behind the Flat Rock Village Offices located at 110 Village Center Drive, Flat Rock, NC. It is a short walk to the park from this lot.
Park Grounds
Open sunrise to sunset for walking and hiking. 264 acres with 5 miles of trails. Click here for a trail map.
Bookstore
Open 9am - 5pm. Operated by Eastern National, the park's bookstore is located in the ground level of the Sandburg Home and offers a broad selection of Sandburg's works, goat milk fudge and cheese, bottled water and other merchandise.
Park Films
Available 9am - 5pm. The Video Room is located in the ground level of the Sandburg Home. Each film is 12 minutes or less. Enjoy an overview of the park with My Connemara or get a glimpse of Sandburg himself through an engaging interview with Edward R. Murrow from 1954.
Connemara Farms Goat Dairy
Open 9am - 5pm. The park raises goats that are descendents of the three breeds of goats Mrs. Sandburg raised at Connemara. Rangers and volunteers are on hand to share this facinating story about goats and Mrs. Sandburg's dairy goat operation.
