Trenches and Earthworks: Pamplin Historical Park, NPS Petersburg National Battlefield

For Labor Day weekend, we decided to visit a Civil War site we'd never seen right here in Virginia.  Kim had bought tickets to Pamplin Historical Park for Justin for Christmas, and we set out to use them.  What a treat--the Petersburg area features multiple sites connected to the activities just before the surrender, and there are amazingly well-preserved trenches and earthworks that illustrate the story.

At Pamplin Historical Park, we explored the property first with Elijah particularly enjoying the trails from site to site.  There's a reconstructed encampment, period buildings, and a simulated trench, all near a pretty spectacular piece of architecture designed to look like earthworks themselves that houses a small museum explaining the events at Petersburg.  Best of all, however, there are earthworks from the war that survive and help visitors envision the "break" in the fortifications at Petersburg, the event precipitating the fall of Richmond and the surrender.  Neither Justin nor Kim could understand how such an important area was overlooked prior to the generosity of the Pamplin family in the 1990s.  There are brief and inexpensive books related to the site's preservation in the gift shop, another bonus.

Admission to Pamplin includes a sophisticated audio tour via MP3.  Your player provides interesting insights outside; in the included National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, the player is indispensible.  The Museum of the Civil War Soldier is a more general museum about camp life, and we recommend taking it in after touring the grounds.  The audio here is highly interactive, including a system that tracks your movement through the galleries and provides insights automatically as well as through your customized requests.  This programming helps make the relatively-small museum more robust.  Don't miss the Trial by Fire gallery, a multi-sensory battle simulation. 

After Pamplin, we were a touch worried we'd be disappointed by Petersburg National Battlefield--how misplaced!  The battlefield features additional authentic earthworks.  The Dictator Trail is a short walk through field and forest that allows one to "climb" up and down some earthworks via stairs.  Most significantly, the trail leads to the dictator cannon--a very large, unique cannon that was used to blast Petersburg city.  We saw a tortoise and some lizards while walking, too.  Driving trails are included with your small entry fee as well, so don't miss the Crater, the site of the infamous, disasterous Battle of the Crater.  The park service has done a fine job interpreting the site, including a replica of the tunnel.  There are few monuments, so you really get the sense of being on the battlefield.  Elijah recommends pushing all the audio buttons on selected, solar-powered placards. 

Petersburg has become one of our most-recommended Civil War trips for people of all interest levels.  We'll be back to check out Blandford Church and Cemetery, as well as the City of Petersburg Museums.  If you go in the summer, be prepared for muggy Virginia weather.  For fast food slightly beyond the norm in the area, we recommend the Petersburg What-a-Burger about two miles from Pamplin (apparently not affiliated with the Deep South What-a-Burger chain).  It would be easy to extend this trip to Tidewater historic sites--the way the birds fly, you are about 45 miles from Yorktown when in Petersburg.