The primary goal for a successful field trip to Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is to ensure that all students, chaperones, and teachers are as safe as possible for the duration of their visit. It is the responsibility of the teachers to ensure that all field trip participants (teachers, chaperones, and students) are aware of the following safety information.
Crowds
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is a 43 acre park centered around an 18th centry star fort structure that was only intended to have a garrison of up to 120 men at one time. Today the park can receive as many as 700,000 visitors a year, with hundreds of schools planning field trips to the park each year. During the busy field trip season (April-June) many schools and potentially thousands of students might be visiting at the same time. Students should be reminded to share the space with those around them, chaperones need to be vigilent to keep track of their students, and teachers should plan how to seperate their groups to not overcrowd park buildings or prevent access to other visitors.
Star Fort Historic Zone
To ensure a safe visit to the historic star fort, students should be reminded:
- Do not climb on the cannons, walls, or earthworks.
- Do not run in the star fort.
- Do not eat in the star fort.
- Do not walk on the outer edges of the star fort structure, or jump off the walls.
- DO stay on trails.
The Grounds
While visiting the other 40 acres of the park, students should remember:
- Do not walk on the sewall at the water's edge.
- Do not climb on trees, monuments, and fragile earthworks.
The Visitor Center
The visitor center is the central hub of the park, and become very crowded very quickly. While visiting the visitor center, please remember:
- Do not eat or drink in the visitor center, museum area, or movie theater.
- Do not block doorways or entrances.
- Charging of cell phones, laptops, or other electronic devices in park outlets is not permitted.
- If the visitor center is too crowded, leave the building and return when crowds have dissipated.
Field trips are welcome to eat their lunches in the park. However, they should keep the following information in mind.
Storage
Fort McHenry has
no lunch storage options. Students, teachers, and chaperones are expected to carry all lunches with them throughout their visit, or keep lunches on their bus. Lunches and coolers should not be left unattended any where within the park.
Best Locations for Lunch
Fort McHenry NM&HS is a mostly open park, and the park grounds provide many ideal lunch locations. The
best locations for lunch would be in the park picnic areas, where multiple picnic tables are located. The two locations are on the East and West Lawns (see
park map).
Areas NOT To Eat Lunch
The following locations strictly prohibit picnicing and thus are
not available for field trips to eat their lunches:
- Star Fort Historic Zone (designated by the split-rail wooden fence)
- Park Visitor Center
Indoor Locations for Lunch
Fort McHenry NM&HS does
not have any indoor locations for field trips to eat lunch. If field trips do not wish to eat their lunches outdoors, they should plan to eat on their buses.
Puchase Lunch
Fort McHenry NM&HS does
not have any food vendors on site. Field trips should plan accordingly to bring a lunch with them.
Due to the high volume of field trips that visit Fort McHenry NM&HS, field trips are expected to pack-in and pack-out their lunches and trash. This means that field trips should avoid using park trash cans whenever possible to avoid overflowing the trash cans. It is recommended that teachers bring their own trashbags and make them available to students when they're eating lunch to easily pack out all lunch trash.
The park's 10-minute introductory film plays every half-hour on the top and bottom of each hour. The film is free for any visitor to watch, and is located in the museum area of the park visitor center. Field trips should keep the following in mind for the film:
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The movie theater area has a maximum capacity of 80 people. If groups are larger than this, they should plan to seperate their groups to prevent overcrowding and fire hazzards in the building.
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Do not sit or lean on exhibits or displays.
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Do not eat or drink the movie theater area.
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Ensure groups do not leave any trash in the movie theater or exhibit area.
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Be respectful to others around you visiting the park, and remain quiet during the film presentation.
Fort McHenry NM&HS currently does not offer any ranger programs for individual groups. However, groups are welcome to join any public programs in the park. There is no need to sign up or apply for a program, as programs are open and available for anyone who would like to join. Students should be reminded to be respectful during park programming to ensure that all park visitors can enjoy the ranger programs.
Visit the park's
Ranger Programs page to see the current programming schedule.
Please Note: Ranger programs will not be put on hold if a school group is running late. If a field trip group intends to join a scheduled ranger program, it is recommended that schools plan accordingly to arrive in the park well before the program begins.
Fort McHenry NM&HS does feature a gift shop run through a concessioniare located inside the park visitor center. The gift shop is open during normal park hours.
Please Plan Ahead
Due to the size of the gift shop, it is not recommended for field trips to visit the store all at one time. Rather, teachers should schedule a time for smaller individual groups to go to the store to prevent the store from overcrowding.
