PROGRAM:GETTYSBURG
GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
Most Students on Tour Education Programs to Gettysburg include:
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Gettysburg National Park Service Visitor Center & Museum
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Gettysburg Battlefield Tour with a licensed National Park Service battlefield guide
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The famous Gettysburg Cyclorama painting
CLIMATE
Gettysburg's climate varies greatly. In the winter it can be cold and bitter; temperatures rarely go above freezing. Snow is also a likely possibility. In the summer temperatures are usually hot and the air can be humid. The best time to visit is in the spring and fall when the air is clear and the temperatures and precipitation mild. Short heavy periods of rain are to be expected in the spring months.
GEOGRAPHY
Gettysburg is located in a portion of southeastern Pennsylvania known as the Piedmont plateau. The region features rolling hills and small mountains.
To the northwest, there is a series of low, parallel ridges. Seminary Ridge, closest to Gettysburg, is named for the Lutheran Theological Seminary on its crest. Farther out is South
Mountain, the beginning of the Blue Ridge portion of the Appalachian Mountain chain.
Dominating the landscape are the Round Tops to the south. Big Round Top - the topographic high point of the Gettysburg Battle, and Little Round top to its north. Both are hills with rugged, slopes above nearby Plum Run strewn with large boulders. Nearby, the area with the most significant boulders, some the size of living rooms, is an area known as Devil's Den. The valley formed by Plum Run between Little Round Top and Devil's Den earned the name Valley of Death on the second day of fighting.
ESSENTIALS
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Standing on the top of Little Round Top and looking out on the battlefields below.
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Walking through Gettysburg National Cemetery and quoting the Gettysburg Address.
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Reenacting Pickett's Charge at the Confederate high-water mark.
Get Prepared
WATCH
Gettysburg, Turner Pictures (1993)
READ
Killer Angels, Michael Shaara (1987) Ballantine Books
Memorize the Gettysburg Address
LISTEN
EAT
Bake some Hardtack or some Southern Johnnie Cakes.
DRINK
A lot of water!
IN A WORD:
Sacrifice
SURPRISES
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Gettysburg is so small and peaceful.
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Gettysburg became the home for President and Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower after his term as President.
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There were over 51,000 casualties during the Battle of Gettysburg, yet only one civilian was killed – 20-year-old Jennie Wade.