This hike was performed by members of Pack 802 during our trip to Gettysburg, PA in October 2020. The trail is one of five required segments of the Gettysburg Heritage Trails program and explores several key battleground sites located West of Taneytown Road, including the Pennsylvania Monument, the Peach Orchard, the Wheat Field, Devils Den, Little Round Top, Big Round Top, the Virginia monument, and Pickett’s charge. The entire hike is an approximately 10 mile loop that begins and ends at the Visitor’s center parking lot.
In order to make this hike more accessible to younger Cub Scouts, I divided the 10 mile trail into two approximately five mile segments which we hiked over the course of two days. Additionally, we were prepared to bail out any scouts that were unable to complete the hike by staging vehicles at the approximate mid-point along each segment and by having a dedicated safety driver available to pick up a scout/parent on an as needed basis. The two segments were from the visitor’s center to Little Round Top, and from a parking area near Big Round Top to the parking area near the cemetery. While the segments are laid out in sequential order following the hike guide, we actually hiked them out of order by starting with segment 2 after arriving in Gettysburg on a Friday afternoon. We hiked segment 1 after visting the museum and cyclorama on a Saturday morning. I only mention this to provide consistency when reviewing the Alltrails GPS recording, which shows the route and elevation contour for the second half of the hike prior to the first half.
Additional information about these segments including facilities and parking are listed below.
