2015 Summer Programs Begin at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Date: May 14, 2015
Contact: Kim Coons, 423-752-5213 x139

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park invites you to take part in summer programming occurring at Chickamauga Battlefield and Lookout Mountain Battlefield. Programs for the summer begin May 23 and end mid-August. The Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center will be open from 8:30 am to 5 pm, and the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center will be open from 9 am to 5 pm. There are several different programs to choose from over the course of the summer.

At Chickamauga Battlefield, visitors can join a park ranger on a hike to Snodgrass Hill or to Battleline Road every Wednesday through Saturday, where they will follow personal stories of the soldiers during the fighting in September 1863. Visitors are also encouraged to participate in a daily car caravan tour of the battlefield, stopping at various locations to discuss how the battle unfolded around them. Additionally, rangers will be providing special talks focusing on the National Park Service's "Find Your Park" initiative, the creation of the national military park 125 years ago, and the uses of artillery during the battle of Chickamauga every Monday through Saturday at the visitor center. On Fridays, living historians will allow visitors the opportunity to meet a Confederate or a Union soldier at the visitor center to learn about the lives of soldiers engaged in the Battle of Chickamauga. This program will include a firing demonstration of a reproduction rifle.

For those visitors wishing to hear the roar and smell the smoke of a reproduction Civil War cannon as it is fired by park crew members, they may do so at Chickamauga Battlefield on July 25 and September 5. These living history programs will take place adjacent to the visitor center.

At Lookout Mountain Battlefield, between Wednesday and Sunday, visitors can join a park ranger on a guided tour of Point Park, where they learn about the desperate fighting on the slopes of the mountain. Every Thursday through Sunday, visitors can participate in brief talks focusing on the National Park Service's "Find Your Park" initiative and the creation of the national military park 125 years ago. On Sundays, a ranger will lead an afternoon hike along the trails of Lookout Mountain, discussing how the battle unfolded in the foggy mist in 1863. On Saturdays, living historians will allow visitors the opportunity to meet a Confederate or a Union soldier inside Point Park to learn about the lives of soldiers engaged in the Battle of Lookout Mountain. This program will include a firing demonstration of a reproduction rifle.An entry fee of $3 per adult, ages 16 and older, is required to enter Point Park;Kids 15 and younger enter for free.

Tours of the Cravens House, on Lookout Mountain, are available for visitors to enjoy on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. In addition to touring the house, visitors can learn about the area where some of harshest fighting of the battle took place.

For those visitors on Lookout Mountain wishing to participate in a program where a reproduction Civil War cannon is fired by park crew members, they may do so inside Point Park on May 30, July 4, and August 8.