gathland state park

Found this park by accident while looking for a Cidery. It's an amazing site with an Arch honoring War Correspondents. The arch is heavily decorated in high Victorian style. There are also several buildings onsite, including a house/museum, a ruined barn and a mausoleum. Everything was built by George Alfred Townsend, the Civil War's youngest news correspondent and a very important writer in his day. A very pleasant surprise!

I found this park on accident en route to another part of Maryland, but so glad I did! One, free CLEAN public restrooms...let's be honest, you gotta do what you gotta do. Two, this remnants and remains of the park are incredible. This area of Maryland is just littered with historic value. One may pass by it quite easily, but definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.

If you like to visit Civil War sites, this place is just as nice as any National Park. If you check the Maryland DNR's website, you can find out when they are giving battlefield tours and get the guided tour. They do not do them often, I went on the 152nd anniversary of the battle. The fact that it also has the War Correspondent’s museum and the Appalachian Trail there makes the whole place that much better.

beautiful quite park with lots of easy parking. Nice picnic area and great day hiking. There is a museum but we did not go in. Bathrooms are clean, many areas to sit relax or explore. The A.T. hike that starts here is an easy hike with nice clear trail. There are some civil war sites in the area but we did not explore those. Definitely would return for more hiking, especially in the fall.

Stopped over here while hiking the Appalachian Trail this summer (4 days to cover Maryland). The picnic area was lovely, a large roof kept the sun off for a while. Happy for the bathrooms and water.The museum was open (it hadn't been the other two times I was here), so went through. Some interesting exhibits on the battle here at the gap (leading up to Antietam) and on war correspondents (particularly "GATH", who owned this property). The highlight of the property is the large archway that is a memorial to all war correspondents. Also check out the graveyard, including the unused tomb.Spent two hours here, but much of that was resting under the shade of the trees before a few mile walk to our campsite for the night. This would be a great spot to start or end a long day hike to or from Harper's Ferry.

This is where the battle of Crampton's Gap, South Mountain took place. There are actually three gaps in South Mountain (Crampton's, Fox's, and Turner's). Battles took place in each as a prelude to Antietam. The state parks department has done a good job with museums and signs to help visitors understand the important events that took place here.

Gathland is a relatively small park with a great location, home to the War Correspondents' Arch, that serves as the starting point for a very nice stretch of the Appalachian Trail. The arch of stone is simple, an reminds us that war correspondents go back at lest to the Civil War. The AT from here to Weverton Cliffs is about 3-4 hours (though you will have to leave a shuttle car at the small parking area at the Weverton end. or make it a full day our and back to the Arch) with a side trail to a great overlook of the winding bends of the Potomac River far below and nice switchbacks down to the Weverton end.