Gettysburg Field Trips Guide

Field Trip Categories In And Around Gettysburg

Gardens, Parks, And Outdoor Learning

Gettysburg National Military Park
Gettysburg National Military Park preserves the ground where Union and Confederate armies fought from July 1-3, 1863, in the Civil War's bloodiest battle. Cemetery Ridge, Little Round Top, Devil's Den, the Wheatfield, Seminary Ridge, and the route of Pickett's Charge are not interchangeable stops; each reveals different terrain, tactical decisions, and human costs. Middle and high school students can use maps and sight lines to test why commanders made certain choices, while upper elementary groups can focus on individual soldier and civilian stories. The visit must also remain connected to slavery and the war's political stakes, not become only a military puzzle. The national cemetery, where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, shifts the lesson toward memory and national purpose. A ranger-led battlefield program is far more effective than driving rapidly from monument to monument.
Street Address: 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Web Address: https://www.nps.gov/gett/

Shriver House Museum
The Shriver House tells the Battle of Gettysburg from the perspective of a civilian family whose home stood amid the fighting. George and Hettie Shriver's house became entangled in Confederate occupation and sharpshooter activity, while the family's experience illustrates evacuation, property damage, fear, and the uncertain lives of noncombatants. Guided tours use rooms, furnishings, architectural evidence, and family research to make urban battle conditions concrete. Upper elementary through high school students can compare the Shriver story with soldiers' narratives and ask how civilians recover after armies leave. The site is small and interpretation is tour-driven, so class size and scheduling matter. Students should also discuss how a house museum reconstructs missing furnishings or events and distinguish documented evidence from scenes created to help visitors imagine the past.
Street Address: 309 Baltimore St, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Web Address: https://shriverhouse.org/

Museums, Tours, And Local Landmarks

Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center
The Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center gives students the chronology and scale needed before entering the battlefield. Original weapons, uniforms, photographs, maps, medical objects, and personal artifacts explain the 1863 campaign, while the restored Gettysburg Cyclorama surrounds visitors with Paul Philippoteaux's enormous nineteenth-century painting of Pickett's Charge. The film and cyclorama are particularly useful for discussing how later generations memorialized the battle as well as what happened during it. Grades 5 through high school can compare an authentic artifact, a historical photograph, and the dramatic painting as three different kinds of evidence. School groups should visit the museum before the battlefield if possible; without orientation, students often see only fields and monuments. Teachers can then ask which museum stories become easier—or more complicated—once students stand on the actual terrain.
Street Address: 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Web Address: https://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/

David Wills House
The David Wills House on Gettysburg's town square is where Abraham Lincoln stayed the night before delivering the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. Attorney David Wills had helped organize the new national cemetery, and the house became a meeting place for officials and dignitaries arriving for its dedication. Exhibits connect the aftermath of battle—burial, mourning, political meaning—to Lincoln's short speech rather than retelling combat itself. Grades 5 through high school can analyze the address in the place where Lincoln made final revisions and ask why 272 words became more famous than the much longer principal oration that day. The house also helps students see that Gettysburg remained a functioning town coping with thousands of dead and wounded. Current opening schedules can be limited, so schools should verify access before building the itinerary around it.
Street Address: 8 Lincoln Sq, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Web Address: https://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/david-wills-house.htm

History, Civics, And Heritage

Eisenhower National Historic Site
Eisenhower National Historic Site preserves the farm and home used by Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower near Gettysburg, the only home the future general and president owned. The property gives students a quieter view of a figure usually encountered through D-Day and the White House: cattle breeding, family life, diplomacy with visiting world leaders, and retirement all occurred here. The site's proximity to the Gettysburg battlefield also mattered to Eisenhower, who studied military history and later chose the region as a retreat. Middle and high school groups can connect World War II command, the Cold War, the presidency, and 1950s domestic culture through one household. Access is often by shuttle from the Gettysburg visitor center and schedules can change, so schools should verify transportation. The contrast with Civil War Gettysburg supports a strong two-era military-history day.
Street Address: 243 Eisenhower Farm Rd, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Web Address: https://www.nps.gov/eise/

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