Kennesaw National Battlefield
Trip Start
Sep 15, 2008
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Trip End
Ongoing
Kennesaw, Georgia
Monday, September 15, 2008
I have only one complaint and if you have been a regular reader of my blogs, you won't be surprised. The trails at this park are poorly marked and if you ask for a trail map, it is practically unreadable. But that being said, this is still one of my favorite parks for a couple of reasons. One, it is a mountain close to the metro-Atlanta area. There aren't a lot of mountains in the area. Second, it is free to go to this park. Not even a parking charge. Third, it was the site of a memorial to September 11 that will forever be in my mind. The battle field was filled with American flags, one for every person who died on that date at the World Trade Center. And it was the site where my grandson became a Junior Ranger, even if he did forget it five minutes after he did it. It was a good day together.
Today I visited the earthworks and Illinois monument at Cheatham Hill, the site of an important battle in the Civil War. I did not realize until today, that this was the official site that began Kennesaw National Historic Site. The state of Illinois bought the land that later became this park in order to build a monument to their fallen dead. The earthworks are remarkedly preserved. You can almost see the Johnny Reb soldiers lieing in the hollows fighting for their lives.
There are other sites to see if you are willing to drive, as the park is 3000 acres total. Kolb Farm is a restored farm. There is an observation deck on top of Kennesaw Mountain. You can drive up to it if the road is open, or if you have a mind to it, you can hike up. There is a trail to the top of the mountain, but the road is easier to climb as it switches back. Even so it is two miles up. There are quite a few hiking trails, the last one I tried to hike was the one around Kennesaw Mountain, but it was not well marked and I got off on another trail by mistake. Next time I will try a different trail, but there are no hash marks to mark the trails and as I said before, the trail map is not easy to read. That being said, it is always nice to take a leisurely walk in the woods.
