From the parking lot at Hartwell Tavern, it’s another reasonable walk to get back to the tavern itself. On the left there’s a short trail leading to bathrooms. The path that runs in front of Hartwell used to be the main road between Boston and Concord, and the two rangers in costume at Hartwell Tavern did a great job of explaining what it would have been like back in the late eighteenth century. There was a good crowd gathered to listen and we learned how the Hartwells started the tavern to provide food, housing, and a place to gather and hear news for those traveling along the road. The area didn’t used to be as forested as it is now, so it was easier to see, but the walls and other impediments were there.

The British decided to march to Concord and confiscate all the weapons and ammunition the colonists had stockpiled there. Paul Revere learned of this and started riding to spread the word. I was surprised to see on the map how quickly he was captured on this famous ride. He didn’t make it anywhere close to the Hartwell Tavern, which is not even the halfway point. Thankfully, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott were also riding to spread the alarm. Revere had been captured by 1am.

On their march from Boston, the British Army encountered 77 minutemen in Lexington at 5am, and 8 colonists died in the ensuing battle.The alarm had been spread and several hundred minutemen, including Mr. Hartwell and three of his sons, gathered in Concord and were there watching from the hills nearby when the British arrived in Concord at 7am to start searching for weapons and to burn what they found. At 9:30am, the British killed two colonists, and their companions returned fire in an act of treason against the British government. That shot is the one that people say was “heard around the world.”

The British regrouped and headed back to Boston around 12:30pm. This march was the focus of the ranger’s talk. The militia men knew the terrain well, but the British had to march back along the road. They were exposed and easily picked off by colonists. However, they did send out scouts, who fanned out to protect the main group marching along the road. Colonists also hid in houses to shoot at the British, and they numbered 4,000 by afternoon. This battle was the beginning of the Revolutionary War and ended around 7pm when the British Army reached safety in Charlestown. There were 73 British soldiers dead and 174 wounded. The Colonists lost 49 men and counted 41 wounded.

After talking about the battle, the events of the day, and the Hartwell Tavern and family, the rangers did a musket firing demonstration. We all walked over to a field and watched as one ranger gave commands and the other carried them out. There were eight steps required to load and fire the musket, and while they were well-practiced, it still took a little time. The musket itself was really loud. One of my kids chose to wait by the tavern and the other agreed to cover his ears when told. One woman had a dog with her that was pretty scared. They went through the steps and fired twice.

The musket shooting was a highlight for the kids in the audience. They also enjoyed hearing the ranger talk about his period clothes, some of which he had made himself. The talk was fun and definitely worth listening to, so if you get a chance, make it a priority.

Watkins Glen was purchased by the State of New York in 1906 and the amazing stone trails were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It opened for tourism in 1863 as a luxury resort managed by journalist Morvalen Ells. It's been manged by the Finger Lakes Region of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation since 1924.

The gorge has attracted tourists for so long because of its incredible beauty. The eleven Finger Lakes were created when glaciers receded from the area 10,000 years ago. When the glaciers melted, the water filled the space where they used to be and Glen Creek carved out the gorge that you walk through on the Gorge Trail at Watkins Glen State Park. The park brochure says that the word "glen" is from the Greek, meaning a "small, narrow, secluded valley," which is a good description of the gorge through which Glen Creek runs.

Before there was a town of Watkins Glen, or a tourist attraction at the gorge, there were Native Americans living and thriving in the area. The campground at the state park is called the Six Nations Camping Area, and each loop of campsites is named after one of the first nations people from the area. The six nations have had what they call the Haundenosaunee Confederacy, or League of Nations, in place for a very long time.

While most of their land has been lost, there is still a Six Nations Indian Reserve, that's been in place since 1842. The Confederacy is still around today and follows it traditional organization and recognized as one of the earliest democratic systems. The six nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) were separate, but came together to live under a unifying set of laws.

Today we went to Buttermilk Falls State Park near Ithaca, New York. We’d been told that there was swimming allowed at the bottom of the falls, so we brought our bathing suits, figuring we could change there. The falls are absolutely beautiful, and really do look kind of like buttermilk pouring down the side of the mountain.

The water is cold, but it would be a beautiful and run place to swim.

I missed the turn and stopped at the Buttermilk Ball Fields or something to turn around. The parking lot costs $9 to park in, though the attendant did tell us the permit is good for any NY state park, so if you wanted to do several in a day, you could pay once and do that. You could also have driven and parked at the different lots associated with Buttermilk Falls (the Ball Fields, the Lower Park Entrance where we were, or the Upper Park Entrance). Even though there was an attendant, there was an automated machine to pay for parking, just like at Watkins Glen State Park, so you could use your credit card and collect the ticket to put on your dashboard.

There is camping available at this park, but I'm glad we weren't camping. There have been really severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours pretty much every day we've been in the area. It's July, and I'm not sure if this is usual for the region. You enter through the same Lower Park Entrance we did and then the camping is to the left. The map shows a Bathhouse and Restrooms, so there should be bathing facilities at the campground.  There are also signs saying that you have to carry out all  your garbage and recyclables.

Sadly, there were big signs up saying no swimming. I’m not sure if this was due to the thunderstorms or something else, but it’s clear that there’s usually a lifeguard and there wasn’t today. There are ropes up, so you could see where the swimming area usually is.

The water was cold, but the air was so hot it felt good and I might have been persuaded to get in with the kids. Just below the pool at the bottom of the falls, there’s an area of the creek that kids were wading in. Ours, of course, wanted to join right in.

If you cross the little bridge there and turn right, it takes you to a nice big playground. There weren’t many kids there, but there were a lot in the water and at the many picnic tables with their families.

This is clearly a popular place. I wonder how many other folks had come today thinking they could swim. There are bathrooms, so we could have changed there, and that’s an important facility when there are so many people staying to swim and hike all afternoon, for example.

We made it down the hill to the car just in time. There was really loud thunder and lightning as we were getting to the bottom. I’d hoped to have time to use the bathroom before getting in the car, but we had to make a run for it, barely managing to keep dry.

The falls themselves make the visit worth it, but when the weather is nice, I'd recommend checking in advance to see if the swimming at the bottom of the falls is open.

If you turn left after crossing the little bridge at the bottom of the falls, you are on the Gorge Trail.

The map says this trail is .75 miles, but it’s not easy to tell exactly where it stops and starts. It’s beautiful and takes you straight up the right side of the falls (from the perspective of facing the falls). There are a LOT of stairs.

The views are stunning. The waterfall just kind of keeps going. So you get to the top of the falls, then see it’s flat for a bit, then there’s another waterfall, and so on up.

It's hard to get a sense of the true size of Buttermilk Falls, because it is so long and broken up, but each section is beautiful.

There were signs saying not to swim anywhere along the falls from the trail, but lots of people were doing it anyway.

There was one spot where people were jumping off a cliff into a deep pool at the bottom of one of the waterfalls.

There were also some shallower areas where kids were playing and splashing around at the bottom of the falls.

The Gorge Trail, in general, is pretty scary. In some places there is fencing so the kids can’t fall, but lots of places there isn’t.

The trail or stairs go right up to the edge of a cliff you could easily tumble down right into the falls. I got a few judgey looks from people when the five-year-old ran ahead of me because they were worried he might fall. Thankfully, he didn't, and was convinced to stay with me.

There's also a falls overlook area. From there you can look right, up the mountain, and see part of the falls, and left, down the mountain, and see where the water disappears down over the hill and out of sight.

Anyhow, after about half a mile, the trail splits. One side goes right and up further. The left side went down to a bridge, where you could cross over Buttermilk Creek and head back down the left side of the falls.

From the map, I surmise that the right branch would finish out the Gorge Trail and connect to the .75 mile long Bear Trail. From there, you could turn right, walk along the road for a short while, then do the 1.5 mile Lake Treman Trail that goes the whole way around Lake Treman.

We didn't take that route, but instead went left, crossed the bridge, and turned left, heading uphill to the ridge.

I was aiming for the Rim Trail, but think we were on the service road for a while before we joined the Rim Trail.

This trail had far fewer people on it than the scenic Gorge Trail. It was rocky, muddy, and had roots to trip over. Because it went down so steeply in places, we slipped quite a bit.

Both kids slid in the mud and got in on their clothes. The good news was that we were far enough from the edge for most of this trail that there was no fear that they might fall down the very steep cliff and into the creek/waterfall.

We left the Johnstown Flood National Memorial and headed to Ohiopyle State Park. On the way, we stopped at the Flight 93 National Memorial, which was built to honor the heroes who challenged terrorists on September 11, 2001 and thwarted their plan. In doing so, they sacrificed their own lives to save those of countless others. I’ve driven past the sign for this memorial on the PA Turnpike countless times, and was so glad we finally stopped to see it. I highly recommend this site; it’s definitely worth a visit.

We started at the Visitor’s Center, where we got the passports stamped and picked up the Junior Ranger activity books and pencils. The ranger down at the Memorial Plaza had the badges, so the kids worked on their booklets while we took turns looking through the museum in the Visitor’s Center. One of the things that the book emphasizes is how quickly the people on board the plane had to decide what to do and to act. From the time the plane was hijacked until they realized what was happening was twenty minutes. They deliberated and planned for nine minutes, and after they decided to act, it was only six minutes until the plane crashed. There were only 35 minutes total. If you put that in the context of a show your kids watch, they will understand the significance.

It was crowded when we were there, probably because it was Memorial Day, and a day for honoring our nations heroes. There was a large group of veterans, traveling together, who were right in front of us and thus featured in some of these photos. The design of the memorial is well thought out. As you walk toward the Visitor Center from the parking lot, the sidewalk actually mimics the flight path and looks kind of like a runway.

We walked past the Visitor Center at first, going to the overlook, which is actually called the “Flight Path Overlook.”

Everywhere you look are the recurring numbers of 93 (the flight number) and 40 (the number of crew members and passengers).

We then went into the Visitor Center, where there is a small museum.

After the museum, we headed down to Memorial Plaza. Vagish walked the .7 mile trail from the Visitor Center to Memorial Plaza.

Alternatively, you could take the one-mile path that runs parallel to the Ring Road that goes to Memorial Plaza the other direction, and then you would pass through the forty groves of forty trees each, planted in memory and tribute for the forty passengers and crew. While beautiful now, at the end of May, this must be stunning in the fall when the leaves change color. The kids and I finished up the Junior Ranger activity books and then drove the road down to the Plaza. The ranger who could check their books and award badges was down there and not at the Visitor Center.

When you reach Memorial Plaza, there is a whole collection of benches and a designated wreath laying area as well as a Visitor Shelter where they keep brochures.

There was actually a program going on at the Plaza when we arrived, with attendees sitting on the benches listening to the ranger talk. This meant that we had to wait for the ranger to finish the program and talk to all the people who approached him afterwards before we could have him check the Junior Ranger books. This normally would be fine, but our five-year-old had reached the cranky stage of needing a nap and was not very patient or cooperative. He did manage to get through it, and then we carried him back to the car where he promptly fell asleep with his Junior Ranger badge.

There is an audio tour for this park that you can access by calling 814-619-2065. The stop talking about the FBI investigation is 205, but there are others as well. You are supposed to begin at number 93, naturally. The brochure about the cell phone tour includes color photographs of the crew and passengers and there is an audio channel for each of them. The numbers for those go from 801 to 840 if you want to listen and learn about their lives.

Of the four planes that crashed on September 11, 2001, this one yielded the most information the most quickly. Instead of crashing into a building and mixing the debris and human remains of the plane with those of the building and its contents and the people on the ground, this plane crashed into an empty field near a grove of trees. They actually found not only the black box of the plane, but one of the signs at Memorial Plaza tells us, “Enough remains are recovered to positively identify everyone on board the plane. Evidence recovered includes knives, passports belonging to the terrorists, and handwritten documents in Arabic describing the terrorists’ plans for the attack.” The field investigation only lasted about three weeks, ending on September 24, 2001.

From the parking lot, where there are bathrooms, you can go one direction to the Memorial Plaza. If you walk the other way, you are on the path that runs parallel to the road and heads through the Memorial Groves and back to the Visitor Center.

In between the two, and going straight up the hill, you find the half-mile long Trail of Remembrance.

The sign tells us that this used to be Skyline Road and leads to the site where the community gathered and built a temporary memorial in the days following the crash.

We ended our visit at the Tower of Voices, which is a 93 foot tall concrete and aluminum musical instrument whose chimes are set in motion by the wind. It is worth making the trip to Shanksville, PA for all by itself. It's stunningly beautiful on its own, and we were lucky to be there on a gorgeous, cloudless day.

The Flight 93 National Memorial is definitely worth a visit, and not just if you happen to be driving by. It’s a destination and an important part of history as well as a beautiful place and tribute.

Water is an absolute essential, and I'm always surprised at how much we go through. The standard estimation for hiking is one liter per person every two hours, which you can adjust for heat and difficult terrain which would require you to drink more to stay hydrated. Kids sometimes drink a little less, but you don't want to underestimate your needs.

Most of the campgrounds we stayed at had water. If we were lucky, a spigot right at our campsite. Others had spigots that were shared between several sites, and some you needed to go to the central bathroom or dishwashing area for water. On a hike, there are rarely places to fill up, so you need to carry as much as you think you'll need based on the mileage.

We prefer to not use the little plastic bottles, as reusable ones are better for the environment. Additionally, because you can't always rely on having potable water everywhere, it's important to have some way of rendering the water drinkable. In the past, I've used filters that you have to pump the water through into your bottle, iodine tablets, and simply boiled water on the stove. For our family travels, rather than pack a filter that we could lose or the kids could take apart or chew on, we opted for the LifeStraw.

We first discovered these when we were traveling in Asia for five months back in 2016, and they are amazing. There's a filter built into the lid of the bottle, and when you suck water up through the straw, you filter it. Even the baby, who was then 6-11 months old on that trip, could suck out of the straw. We had two of them then, and carried them everywhere. They are expensive bottles (about $45), but you can replace the filters for about $25.

I was kicking myself for throwing out a bottle when the little one sucked apple cider through it (never have I tasted something so nasty as water from that bottle post this incident), but we had one left and bought a new Lifestraw bottle for this trip so we would have two. The old bottle needed a new filter, so on the way to Davis Bayou, I bought what I thought was the replacement filter when I saw it. Turns out, it was what is called a “personal filter.” You stick it in any bottle or pot and suck through it to filter water, but it doesn't actually fit into the lid of our bottle. It wasn't what I wanted and I returned it the next day for a refund. We then ordered a replacement filter to be mailed to us, but it didn't fit, either. I think they must have changed the shape at some point.

So we had one liter of water to carry on short hikes and two liters for longer hikes. We also kept a gallon jug in the car that could be used when needed. As the kids get older, we'll need to have each person carry their own water bottle, but for now, this was all we needed.

The ranger had told us that the Tower of Voices stands 93 feet tall, in honor of Flight 93. It’s fifteen feet in diameter. We were there on a gorgeous day, and the tower was stunning against the backdrop of a perfect blue sky. The tower is open in a pattern all the way up and there are forty chimes inside to honor the forty passengers and crew members who died in the crash of Flight 93.

The sign about the tower says that “The Tower of Voices aluminum tubular chimes which create music when the wind blows through the concrete tower….Conifer and deciduous plantings are arranged in concentric rings, representing sound waves emanating from the tower.” The tower is set up in eight columns, each of which has five chimes hanging from it. They span two octaves, for the musically inclined, and are tuned to C, D, E, F#, G, and B. They are all eight inches in diameter, but their lengths range from five to ten feet, which is how they get the different notes.

The Tower of Voices was my favorite thing at the Flight 93 National Memorial. I’m glad we came here at the end of our visit and not as the first thing, although it is the first thing you pass when you enter the site. It’s super cool. It’s open on one side and you can walk right up inside it and look up to the sky, seeing all the chimes attached all the way up the 93-foot-tall structure.

The disappointing thing for me, though, was that I couldn’t hear any music. I asked a few other people who were there if they could hear anything, and nobody could. It was not a windless day, although it wasn’t remarkably windy, but I had thought we’d be able to hear something, even if only faintly, and couldn’t. It would be nice if these chimes were a little lighter or somehow easier for the wind to set in motion, so that the Voices would be clear even on an unremarkable (but not totally still) day.

The trail starts from behind the bathrooms near the Visitor Center/Museum at the Flight 93 National Memorial. It’s .3 miles to the Western Overlook and .7 miles to Memorial Plaza. The entire thing is wheelchair, and therefore stroller, accessible.

It’s only for walking, so no bikes and no horses allowed, but you can take your pets as long as you keep them on a leash and clean up after them.

The trail isn’t paved, but the gravel is easy to walk on. The Memorial Plaza is down the hill from the Visitor’s Center, and they made sure to keep the grade easy. There are switchbacks and benches along the way if you want to sit down and rest or admire the view.

The views are impressive in both directions. The platform that we first walked out on juts out over the top of the hill and reminds me of a jetway from this angle.

It’s like you are in a plane, seeing the jetway out the window as you taxi away. The Western Overlook is where the command post for the investigation was located as well as a number of spontaneous shrines.

Off to one direction, you can see a number of windmills installed across a wide sweep of land.

And to another you can see the trail ahead of you ending at Memorial Plaza in the distance. There are forty white marble panels, each engraved with a name and with an American flag at its base, to honor the forty passengers and crew who died in the crash.

There are benches and other places to sit and contemplate. There’s a black walkway and a sloped wall there to mark the edge of the debris field and crash site.

The Plaza is a quarter of a mile long and paved. So if you want to drive down and then walk just that much, you can do that.

After camping in the rain, you are left with wet gear. There are lots of concerns with this, and the only good answer is that things needs to be dried out as quickly as possible. Each trip is different, and the solution may vary depending on what your next step is. Are you heading home, going to a hotel, or moving to another campsite? What's the weather like tomorrow? Later in the week?

What you don't want to do is pack up a wet tent and leave it. It will certainly mildew and likely become unusable. Also, if you can avoid putting your wet tent into a stuff sack, that helps as well. However, you don't want to get all the rest of your gear wet, either, so you may not be able to avoid this. There are lots of different suggestions online for how to manage. Most obviously, make sure to shake as much excess water off the tent as possible before doing anything. Beyond that, suggestions include folding the tent rather than stuffing it, wrapping everything loosely in a tarp, and lashing the wet tent to the outside of your pack if you are backpacking.

Since our trip mixed campgrounds and hotels, we had some options. If you move to another campsite, set the tent up as early as possible. This will give it a chance to dry out. After our first big rain at Davis Bayou, we were heading for a hotel in New Orleans, so we packed the gear wet then took it all out the second we checked in to the hotel. It wasn't drying very quickly in the room, but the room was oriented around a courtyard, so we hung the tent and sleeping bags over the railing, where they dried much more quickly outside.

Wet isn't the only concern with gear; also watch out for mud and rocks. Our tent is small enough that we can pick it up easily and shake out any rocks, but this may not be possible with a larger tent. If your tent is too large to turn upside down and shake, you should probably carry a small broom and dustpan so you can sweep up any debris. If a rock gets stuffed into a stuff sack with a tent, it can rip and seriously damage a tent. Mud can weaken the material of the tent and mud and water can hurt the waterproofing. Bottom line: make sure your tent is clean and dry before you store it.

The museum at the Flight 93 National Memorial is located inside the National Memorial Visitor Center.

It includes a lot of interesting exhibits and is worth visiting as your first stop at the site. One exhibit shows where the passengers, terrorists, and crew were originally seated, and then where they were after the terrorists herded everyone to the back of the plane after telling passengers (falsely) that one of them had a bomb strapped to his waist.

There are detailed timelines, showing when the other targets were hit, and documenting the 37+ phone calls that came from people on the plane, which provided a lot of details and information about what happened in these crucial minutes. This flight had been delayed by 25 minutes before taking off. Because all the other hijacked planes had crashed already, people making phone calls heard about those crashes from the people they called, including the flight attendants who were able to reach United Airlines, giving them an idea of what would happen if they didn’t fight back.

Several exhibits include quotes from people in western Pennsylvania who saw the plane crash or were early on the scene.

The exhibits of the wreckage are shocking in that the pieces of the plane are so very small and there are so few of them.

There was basically nothing left of this enormous plane; the largest piece of debris found was a 6 foot by 7 foot section of the fuselage. Somerset County Coroner Wally Miller, who a local told me retired earlier this year, was responsible for identifying all the remains. He also kept the site closed until 2005 and in February 2002, the exhibit tells us, met with the families of passengers and crew “as a group to discuss the return of their loved ones remains and personal effects.” This is such a difficult and important job.

There are examples of tribute quilts and things that were left at spontaneous shrines in the area. The famous quote from a tribute quilt is from Captain Stephen Ruda of the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 2003: “A common field one day, a field of honor forever.” There are flags, teddy bears, jewelry, and a number of other items. One of the activities in the junior ranger book is to look for these items and circle the ones the child finds. Some are in the museum and others are down on Memorial Plaza.

Most campgrounds have hosts. Sometimes these are paid employees and sometimes they are volunteers. Sometimes they are seasonal positions and sometimes year round. There's clearly a lot of variation in the way this works. If you have an RV and would like to stay in a beautiful spot longer than the two week maximum that is standard at most campgrounds, becoming a host might be for you. The site is always included, so you get to stay for free.

The duties of being a host vary, but the main thing is to be available if campers have issues. Usually the hosts will check in with new arrivals, introduce themselves, share any necessary rules or information, and let the campers know where they are located in case any issues arise. Sometimes there will be light maintenance or cleaning that needs done and sometimes you'll have to collect fees.

We've seen hosts who stop by in their golf carts on a regular basis to chat and at some sites, we never interacted with the host at all. At the national parks campgrounds, the hosts had the stamps for the passports, so if the visitor center was closed, you could get these with the host. The campground host at Davis Bayou, for example, not only had the Davis Bayou stamp, but stamps for all the little islands in the area as well. He said none of the boats are running, so we could stamp our books as if we went there. We got West Ship Island; Ocean Springs, MS; Mississippi Gulf Coast NHA Gulf Islands NS Davis Bayou; and Fort Massachusetts. It would be great to come back someday and actually get to go to all those places!

We learned that camp hosts at the National Parks have to have at least a level four clearance with their background checks. They are under the Department of the Interior, but the Department of Homeland Security actually does their background checks. State parks have different regulations and there are often maximum lengths of times one can serve (12 weeks, 16 weeks, etc.). Also, these positions tend to be competitive and you should apply at least one year in advance of when you wish to be there. There are also other volunteer opportunities, so check out the website for your park of choice to see how you can be involved!

On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States of America. They crashed two into the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Most children will have learned about this in school, and most adults will be able to tell you where they were and what they were doing that day. In addition, the media images from that day, especially the ones of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center, are known the world over.

Flight 93, carrying thirty passengers and seven crew members, for a total of forty was hijacked by four terrorists somewhere over Ohio on its way from Newark, NJ to San Francisco, CA. The flight had been delayed for twenty-five minutes, then flew a normal flight on course for California for forty-six minutes. One of the signs at Memorial Plaza informs readers that "Air traffic controllers in Cleveland, Ohio, hear the pilot or first officer shouting, 'Mayday! Get out of here!'" After that the hijackers clearly gained control, because the flight changed course.

It turned back toward Washington, DC, heading for the Capitol Building, though the target was not known at that time. Eighteen minutes before it would have crashed into the Capitol Building, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in western Pennsylvania, near Shanksville, killing everyone on board. The explosion from the fuel sent up a black metallic cloud, and the photos of locals definitely make an impression. There was also a giant crater at the site of impact.

Evidence gathered from the plane's black box, phone calls from passengers and crew to people on the ground, and the wreckage and remains discovered at the crash site, has created a pretty clear picture of what happened that day. There's a museum at the Visitor Center that has a lot of exhibits and there are informational signs down at the Memorial Plaza. In addition, there is also an audio tour that you can access from anywhere (so go ahead and call 814-619-2065 and press 93 to get started).

May 22, 2021

We visited Valley Forge National Historic Park today. It was 90 degrees outside, which meant we opted out of any rigorous hiking. There are 35 miles of hiking trails in the park, and 19 miles of biking trails, but the Horse-Shoe trail that begins in the park is 140 miles long and connects to the Appalachian Trail, which is more than 2180 miles long. The Schuykill River Trail, which is 109 miles in total, runs right through Valley Forge NHP as well, so you can hike as much or as little as you want. The shortest trail is the quarter mile long Wolfinger Trail.

Were the weather better for hiking, the ones that I'd want to try are the River Trail/Commissary Trail loop, which is probably about 2 miles (the River Trail is one way and 3 miles, while the Commissary Trail is 1 mile); the Chapel Trail, which is 2.5 miles and supposed to have great views of the Schuykill river; and some combination of the Grand Parade/Joseph Plumb Martin Trail (Joseph Plumb Martin is an 8.7 mile loop that connects many historic sites within the park, and the Grand Parade Trail cuts across that loop at several points).

Thankfully, the main tourist route through Valley Forge is best done by car. This is the ten mile long “Encampment Tour,” which is paired with a cell phone tour. You just call 484-396-1018 (484-396-1015 for Spanish) and listen to the information at the various sites. The prompt numbers start with 1-9 and are two digits, always starting from one and going as high as there are recordings in that place (between 3 and 5). The guide can be found online. Seasonally, and not during Covid, they run a shuttle for a fee that takes 90 minutes to do the loop. We stopped at the various points and walked around a little, then retreated back to our air-conditioned vehicle to drive to the next stop, of which there are nine total. At some point during the heat and lazy afternoon, around stop 8, the littlest kid fell asleep in the backseat.

Thomas Paine wrote to Benjamin Franklin about the encampment at Valley Forge on May 16, 1778 that "George Washington keeps his station at Valley Forge, I was there when the Army first began to build huts. They appeared to me like a family of beavers, everyone busy; some carrying logs, others mud, and the rest plastering them together. The whole was raised in a few days and it is a curious collection of buildings, in the true rustic order." It's an impressive park and definitely worth a visit.

We started the journey at the Visitor’s Center, which we knew from the website was closed. I anticipated that they would have a ranger station set up outside with the various information, since that’s what we saw at Cuyahuga National Park two months ago as well as other places along our journey.

They had the junior ranger activity books in envelopes with pencils and badges, and deputized parents to award them upon completion of the book. I tried to get our passports stamped, but they were only stamping stickers that you could put in your book later. We got two: one for Valley Forge National Historic Park and one for the Schuykill River Greenways National Heritage Area. We’ll try to make it there either on this trip or one in the near future. It’s known for the Schuykill River Trail, which runs 109 miles between the Philadelphia Art Museum and Frackville, PA, passing directly through Valley Forge NHP.

The stops on the Encampment Tour that you should be sure to make are the Muhlenberg Brigade (stop 2), Washington’s Headquarters (stop 5), Artillery Park (stop 7), and Washington Memorial Chapel (stop 9). The Muhlenberg Brigade is a great place to see what the huts looked like that the soldiers actually lived in and to get an idea of what this place would have looked like 250 years ago.

Following the Muhlenberg Brigade is the National Memorial Arch stop. This is a great photo opportunity and an impressive monument to the officers and soldiers of the Continental Army.

On the way there, you pass the pillars spanning the road that commemorate the Pennsylvania contingent.

Stop 4 is the Wayne statue, which we found unexpectedly interesting given Wayne's connections to Ohio.

We pulled off at General Henry Knox's quarters, which consist of a farm. Officers like Knox typically lived in farmhouses, though many later moved into huts to be closer to the men under their command. There's a trail leading from the farm, but we didn't follow it. Neither Knox's quarters nor Lord Stirling's quarters, which are nearby, are open to the public.

Near Knox's Quarters is the 1865 covered bridge. We'd driven over it on the way here and the one lane bridge is a dangerous spot to stop and take a photo, so we didn't. Maybe if you walk from Knox's Quarters, you could do it. The next stop on the Encampment Tour is number 5, Washington's Headquarters, where you should plan to stop and walk around, and use the bathroom if necessary.

Stop 6 is a Redoubt, but there isn't much to look at. There is an observation platform you can walk out on.

Stop 7 is Artillery Park, and probably the kids' favorite stop at Valley Forge. There are more than a dozen replica cannons here, all in formation, and the kids are allowed to climb on them. There were a few other families with kids as well, and these were exciting for at least ages 5-14.

Varnum's Picnic Area is Stop number 8, and it's a really nice seasonal picnic area. There's a huge statue of Major General Friedrich Wilhelm Baron von Steuben, who led the trainings on the Grand Parade.

There's an entrance to the Grand Parade Trail here, which looks like it would be a nice walk when it isn't so hot.

You can also easily walk to Varnum's quarters from here.

I also recommend stop number 9, Washington Memorial Chapel, as it is beautiful inside and out plus you can get food, use the bathroom, and retire a flag here if you need to.

Washington Memorial Chapel is stop number 9 on the Encampment tour at Valley Forge National Historic Park. It is an active Episcopal church. At the end of May, 2021, they were holding in person worship services Monday - Thursday at 9am, Wednesdays at noon, Saturdays at 5pm, and Sundays at 8 and 10am. We arrived on Saturday just before 5pm, and if we hadn’t had sleeping kids in the car, would have considered staying for the service.

The Chapel is known for their Carillon, and the free Frank P. Law Summer Concert Series that is happening every Wednesday in July and August at 7:30pm. You can bring blankets and lawn chairs and food and sit outside (in the rain or sun) and enjoy the music. They are bringing in carillonneurs (new word for all us!) from as far away as Illinois and South Carolina and have a parking space reserved for this person, which is where we saw the word for the first time.

If we can make it back there some Wednesday night this summer, we will. This sounds amazing.

The entrance is truly impressive, with beautiful stained glass windows and a modified but recognizable American flag pattern on the ceiling.

There was a sign that the Justice Bell is being refurbished, and the photo of it looks like it would be a sight to see once it is back.

There was a tour group inside, so we had to wait for them to finish to peek inside the sanctuary before the service started. There are a lot of hand carved elements inside and the stained glass windows are again impressive. What a beautiful place to attend services!

After their talk in the sanctuary, the tour group was going to use the outdoor bathrooms before heading back to the cafe to pick up their box lunches. Then they would get on their bus and heading to Washington, D.C. This seems like a pretty common route and the Chapel was very well organized for large groups like this and clearly do this often.

Behind the chapel is the gift shop and cafe. They had a box outside where you could drop off retired flags for proper disposal.

I’ve never seen this before, always seeking out local boy scout troops for help with flag disposal. Such a nice service. Inside they sold food, basic sandwiches and hot dogs, but reasonably priced and they looked appetizing. The boxes were all out for the tour group, so we perused quickly so as to avoid the rush. There was also a small gift shop. I also spotted signs for a used book shop, but it was closed.

Past the gift shop and cafe was a small cemetery.

It’s a beautiful area in general and well worth stopping and looking around. Make sure to go inside the Chapel!

Washington's Headquarters at Stop 5 are really impressive and worth seeing. The sign posted says that it used to be even more impressive with an industrial village and wooden huts and fortifications like the ones I discussed in the Muhlenberg Brigade post. But a Valley Forge Centennial Association was formed in after the nation centennial in 1876 to hold celebrations on June 19, 1878. Much of the proceeds went toward purchasing Washington's Headquarters and preserving it.

The headquarters are right on the south side of the Schuykill River, though you can't see it from here because of the trees. The railroad tracks run parallel to the river. The parking lot is at the top, and it is possible to drive down and drop people off, but you can't leave the car there. Instead, you park at the top (near the bathrooms, in case anyone needs them) and then walk down the long, switch-back ramp to the train station.

On the green, as we walked past, we could see people in period costumes, complete with bonnets, sitting on blankets and picnicking here.

The farm belonged to Isaac Potts and the house had been built in the late 1760s, so was pretty new when Washington was there in 1777. Interestingly, Washington paid Potts 100 pounds to let them use the house during the encampment. The American military, unlike the British and other Europeans, generally didn't forcibly seize people's property.

I think some of the buildings here are usually open, but due to Covid, nothing was. It was still nice to walk around.

There's a really nice statue of George Washington if you want a photo with him.

There's also another grouping of a few huts.

I think they might run train tours sometimes, but nothing was happening when we were there.