A Fall Ramble at Manassas

Fall is my favorite season – heritage apples for cider or baking are abundant, a change in leaves profoundly alters the landscape, and weather is perfect for longer days outdoors (with a good sweater!).

I’ve tried to get outdoors as much as I could this month to really soak in fall, and this week I went over to Manassas National Battlefield Park with a few other folks. While the lapse in government appropriations meant the visitor center was closed and there was only a limited staff to keep an eye on things during robust weekday visitation, the trails were open and in good shape. The park has over 40 miles of trails, and the maps can be found linked here. On this trip, we primarily focused on the Second Manassas trail with a few excursions down spur trails.

The over seven miles we walked crisscrossed the battlefields of both the 1861 and 1862 battles, covering the farms of many critical local families. Henry Hill, Mathews Hill, Groveton, Chinn Ridge. We caught up on life and shared the pieces of history we knew about the site – a touching personal account here, a favorite regiment there, a funny quote, or a discussion about critical decisions. All along the way we used the park’s excellent hiking or horse trails that were dotted with informational signage. We occasionally went slightly off-trail to try to find a particular homestead or regimental position.

We stopped often to absorb the landscape, talking about historic sightlines now overgrown or when we could see a landscape feature that we hadn’t considered from that point. We often considered how it was a beautiful fall day and we were trying to understand the experiences of soldiers who were here on brutally hot July and August days.

All in all, the day was a powerful reminder of many things: the importance of public lands and battlefield preservation for both historic interpretation and greenspace, the value of time spent with friends, and the beauty of a changing season.