Join volunteers across the nation on Saturday, September 27, 2025, taking part in National Public Lands Day - the largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands in the United States. This year’s activities at Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park will focus on battlefield restoration in removing vegetation between Battleline Road and the Kelly Field on the Chickamauga Battlefield.

In 1863, the area along Battleline Road was part of a cedar glade stretching approximately 1-mile in length, north to south, and 100-150 yards wide at various points along its extent. The area saw some of the heaviest fighting on the battlefield. Over the last 162 years since the battle, this area has transformed from grass and fordominated glades, to open-canopy woodland, to closed-canopy forest. It is our goal to begin the process of helping restore the area back to the native cedar glade ecosystem.

National Public Land’s Day participants should wear clothes they do not mind getting dirty. For safety reasons and due to the nature of the work, clothing should include long pants, long-sleeve shirt and closed toed boots or shoes, NO open toed shoes. Participants are asked to bring a water bottle as a water cooler will be provided. The park will provide all necessary tools and personal protective equipment, but if a participant wants to bring their own set of gloves or protective eye-wear, they may do so.

In commemoration of National Public Lands Day entrance fees to National Park Service units will be waived. This includes Point Park on top of Lookout Mountain, allowing free entrance Saturday, September 27, 2025.

National Public Lands Day began in 1994 and is organized each year by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). NPLD promotes the connection between people and the environment by inviting everyone to get outside. NPLD brings together hundreds of thousands of individual and organizational volunteers to help restore the country’s public lands. These are the places Americans use for outdoor recreation, education, and just plain enjoyment. These lands encompass national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, forests, grasslands, marine sanctuaries, lakes, and reservoirs, as well as state, county, and city parks that are managed by public agencies, but that belong to and are enjoyed by all of us.

Conquistadors and Chiefdoms: The Hidden History of 40HA84

The 20th Annual Rita Vital Memorial Moccasin Bend Fall Lecture Series begins on Monday, September 22 at 7:00 pm in the Tennessee Aquarium River Journey Auditorium. 

National Park Partners presents three unique Moccasin Bend Lecture Series events each fall with fascinating speakers and topics related to National Parks and conservation; Indigenous culture and history; and Chattanooga’s place in the U.S. Civil War. Founded in 2006, the series is underwritten by TN State Rep. Greg A. Vital and now celebrates its 20th anniversary thanks to his generous sponsorship.

All lectures are FREE and open to the public.

Recordings of previous lectures are available on-demand on our YouTube Channel.

Ava Lowery will utilize historical accounts and archaeological evidence to illustrate the complex social and military relationships between and within the Coosa chiefdom along with Spanish conquistador Tristán de Luna’s 1560 expedition into the interior Southeast. With Little Owl Village at Audubon Acres and other local archaeological sites as the setting, there is a significant framework for a discussion of the sociopolitical environment of the Mississippian period in the Chattanooga area during early European contact, colonial power dynamics, struggles for sovereignty within the Native population, and narratives of power in the context of practicing cultural preservation today.

Lowery earned her BS in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Beginning in the summer of 2023, she interned under two dedicated professors for UTC’s NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) compliance efforts until graduation and received a Jeffrey L. Brown Memorial Scholarship Award for her participation. Later in January 2024, she used and expanded the same skills in a voluntary repatriation project for Chattanooga Audubon Society’s donated archaeological collection. From the latter collection, items of cultural significance were successfully repatriated to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in May of 2025. Lowery is a museum and outdoor educator at the Chattanooga Audubon Society’s main property, Audubon Acres, where she produces educational programs based around nature, history, and archaeology.

0.5 mile hike

Hearing the sound of heavy fighting several miles south of his position on September 20, 1863, Union General Gordon Granger seized the initiative and ordered his Reserve Corps to march toward the sound of battle. Granger’s inexperienced troops arrived on the battlefield to find George Thomas organizing a desperate defense of Snodgrass Hill following the Confederate breakthrough at the Brotherton farm. The men of the Reserve Corps advanced into the fray on Horseshoe Ridge, hoping to thwart Confederate efforts to turn Thomas’ flank. Join a ranger on this one-hour program to walk the ground where the Reserve Corps went into action during the final hours of the Battle of Chickamauga.

Location: Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center to parking on Alexander-Viniard Road.

Established behind each of the two dozen divisions engaged in the battle was a field hospital to care for the unit’s hundreds of wounded. Those for the division of Confederate Thomas C. Hindman were located on the farms of Helm and Jeptha Hunt. This three mile round trip walking tour will examine the locale of where just some of the 25,000 wounded of the battle received at least initial care.

If you are interested in a general overview tour of the second deadliest battle of the Civil War, meet a park-ranger inside the visitor center to take car caravan tour around the battlefield.

Casualty numbers (soldiers who were killed, wounded, or missing) can be found all over Chickamauga Battlefield's monuments and plaques. However, some soldiers did not succumb to their fates until many years after the guns fell silent. One of those soldiers was James King of the 48th Alabama Infantry, whose story we will explore during this program.

September 21, 1863, was a new day for Braxton Bragg. That he had likely won a battlefield victory became increasingly clear as he rode across the now battle-scarred landscape a dozen miles south of Chattanooga. This one and a half mile walking tour will explore Bragg’s experience on that “morning after” in 1863.

If you are interested in a general overview tour of the second deadliest battle of the Civil War, meet a park-ranger inside the visitor center to take car caravan tour around the battlefield.

A park ranger will set the stage for the artillery demonstration by explaining the battery's action in Dyer field on September 20, 1863.

This year, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park is proud to partner with 1st Section, an authentic horse-drawn artillery living history organization that is dedicated to accurately portraying the common soldier of the American Civil War.

1st Section's programs will likely be as close as one can get to the sights, sounds, and smells associated with Civil War artillery, and the park hopes visitors will set aside the time to visit Chickamauga Battlefield and particpate in these special anniversary living history programs.

A section (two cannon) of the 3rd Wisconsin Light Artillery will be the authentic unit portrayed during programs, which are scheduled to take place on appoximately the same ground over which the orignial battery engaged Confederates during the Battle of Chickamauga, from September 19-20, 1863.

They’re still muzzleloaders and horsedrawn but Robert Parker Parrott’s cannon are representative of the era of technological advances in which our nation’s Civil War unfolds and a Badger battery at Chickamauga reflects both the new and old. This special artillery-focused program will incorporate both a talk and a car caravan tour to the special anniversary program that will look at the role and experience of the 3rd Wisconsin Battery in Dyer Field on that third September Sunday 162 years ago.

Location: Near the Wilder Brigade Monument/Recreation Field (Follow the Artillery Program & Parking Signs)

Duration: 30-minutes

Overview: Battery members will explore the role of bugles during the Civil War.

This year, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park is proud to partner with 1st Section, an authentic horse-drawn artillery living history organization that is dedicated to accurately portraying the common soldier of the American Civil War.

1st Section's programs will likely be as close as one can get to the sights, sounds, and smells associated with Civil War artillery, and the park hopes visitors will set aside the time to visit Chickamauga Battlefield and particpate in these special anniversary living history programs.

A section (two cannon) of the 3rd Wisconsin Light Artillery will be the authentic unit portrayed during programs, which are scheduled to take place on appoximately the same ground over which the orignial battery engaged Confederates during the Battle of Chickamauga, from September 19-20, 1863.

Location: Glenn-Kelly Road north of Dyer Road. Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center.

Union prisoners and abandoned equipment, captured cannon, withdrawing enemy troops and formations cheered Joseph Kershaw’s South Carolinians as they swept northward into wooded rising ground; victory was at hand. This mile and a half walking will examine the fighting Kershaw’s men still had to do to help claim the victory.

Location: Near the Wilder Brigade Monument/Recreation Field (Follow the Artillery Program & Parking Signs)

Duration: 30-minutes

Overview: Battery members will explain the role of horses and mules during the Civil War followed by stable call.

This year, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park is proud to partner with 1st Section, an authentic horse-drawn artillery living history organization that is dedicated to accurately portraying the common soldier of the American Civil War.

1st Section's programs will likely be as close as one can get to the sights, sounds, and smells associated with Civil War artillery, and the park hopes visitors will set aside the time to visit Chickamauga Battlefield and particpate in these special anniversary living history programs.

A section (two cannon) of the 3rd Wisconsin Light Artillery will be the authentic unit portrayed during programs, which are scheduled to take place on appoximately the same ground over which the orignial battery engaged Confederates during the Battle of Chickamauga, from September 19-20, 1863.

Drop-in anytime between 2 pm and 4 pm

Stop by the Hands-on History Table at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center to learn about soldier's life during the Civil War. Visitors of all ages will have the opportunity to hold and touch authentic reproduction uniforms, weapons, and equipment made to match items worn and used by Civil War soldiers. A ranger will be on hand to answer questions and to discuss the experiences of soldiers during the Chickamauga campaign.

If you are interested in a general overview tour of the final day's fighting at Chickamauga, meet a park ranger inside the visitor center to take a car caravan tour to areas associated with one of the last major Confederate victories of the Civil War.

Location: Near the Wilder Brigade Monument/Recreation Field (Follow the Artillery Program & Parking Signs)

Duration: 30-minutes

Overview: Battery members will disucss the experiences of artillerists in camp, on the march, and in battle.

This year, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park is proud to partner with 1st Section, an authentic horse-drawn artillery living history organization that is dedicated to accurately portraying the common soldier of the American Civil War.

1st Section's programs will likely be as close as one can get to the sights, sounds, and smells associated with Civil War artillery, and the park hopes visitors will set aside the time to visit Chickamauga Battlefield and particpate in these special anniversary living history programs.

A section (two cannon) of the 3rd Wisconsin Light Artillery will be the authentic unit portrayed during programs, which are scheduled to take place on appoximately the same ground over which the orignial battery engaged Confederates during the Battle of Chickamauga, from September 19-20, 1863.

Brotherton Field. Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center.

Amongst the last Confederates to arrive to participate in the battle was the brigade of South Carolinians under Joseph Kershaw, marching almost literally into the fight. This one and a half mile walking tour will follow Kershaw’s Palmetto Staters into their first fight at Chickamauga as the Union right collapsed.

Private Henry Clay McKnight of Company G, 11th Ohio Infantry, found himself a prisoner of war on September 20, 1863. After Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park's 1890 establishment, veterans came back to erect a marker to the 11th Ohio just behind the modern-day visitor center. Come here McKnight's story and how to see the face of battle first hand and the memories these soldiers left behind in stone!

Overview: A park ranger will set the stage for the artillery demonstration by telling the story of the battery and its action, in the Viniard Field, on September 19, 1863.

This year, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park is proud to partner with 1st Section, an authentic horse-drawn artillery living history organization that is dedicated to accurately portraying the common soldier of the American Civil War.

1st Section's programs will likely be as close as one can get to the sights, sounds, and smells associated with Civil War artillery, and the park hopes visitors will set aside the time to visit Chickamauga Battlefield and particpate in these special anniversary living history programs.

A section (two cannon) of the 3rd Wisconsin Light Artillery will be the authentic unit portrayed during programs, which are scheduled to take place on appoximately the same ground over which the orignial battery engaged Confederates during the Battle of Chickamauga, from September 19-20, 1863.

Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center to parking along Battleline Road.

“We encountered the enemy in a position naturally strong and strengthened by fortifications…” Bragg hoped to be rolling up the Union line but another of his brigades that found itself launching a frontal assault was Sterling A. M. Wood’s mixed brigade of Alabamans and Mississippians. This one mile walking tour will look at Wood’s assault on that third September Sunday in 1863.

If you are interested in a general overview tour of the final day's fighting at Chickamauga, meet a park ranger inside the visitor center to take a car caravan tour to areas associated with one of the last major Confederate victories of the Civil War.

Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center to parking along Battleline Road.

Former Vice President John C. Breckinridge’s Confederate division overlapped the Union left, nearly. This one-mile walking tour will examine the experience of the left of Breckinridge’s left, Benjamin Helm’s Kentucky Brigade, where they didn’t overlap the Union left.

Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center to parking along Battleline Road.

Even before the fighting of the 19th ended and Union commanders had their council of war, Major General George Thomas began positioning troops for another day’s battle. This mile and a half hike will explore Thomas’ evening efforts that did so much to define the Union line for the final day of the battle.

Gravel parking area at the intersection of Glenn-Kelly Road and Chickamauga-Vittetoe Road. Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Visitor Center.

Having helped cover Rosecrans’ march out of McLemore’s Cove over the last several days, James Negley’s division marched north from Crawfish Spring to join the battle on the afternoon of September 19. This mile and a half walking tour will examine the experience of Negley’s men as they arrived seemingly at a critical time.

If you are interested in a general overview tour of the deadly fighting that took place on September 19, 1863, during the Battle of Chickamauga, meet a park ranger inside the visitor center to take a car-caravan tour around the battlefield.

Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center to the intersection of Alexander Bridge Road and Viniard-Alexander Road, then to the designated parking area along Alexander -Viniard Road.

More than 900 miles by rail, and now a dozen or so on foot, had brought Robertson’s, formerly Hood’s, Texas, and Henry L. “Rock” Benning’s Georgia, storied brigades of the Army of Northern Virginia to show the West how it’s done in the East. This two mile walking tour will look at Robertson’s and Benning’s attacks of September 19.

If you are interested in a general overview tour of the deadly fighting that took place on September 19, 1863, during the Battle of Chickamauga, meet a park ranger inside the visitor center to take a car-caravan tour around the battlefield.

Follow the “Historian Hike” signs from the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center to the intersection of Alexander Bridge Road and Viniard-Alexander Road, then to the designated parking area along Alexander -Viniard Road.

Braxton Bragg had been unable to attack the Union left at Lee & Gordon’s Mills on September 18 as he had planned. But, having only gotten at dark on the 18th to where he wanted to have been at mid-day that day Bragg on the 19th figured he could simply resume the movement of the day before. This mile and a half round trip hike will examine Bragg’s massing on the morning of September 19 for the attack on the Union left.

This part car caravan, part walking tour, program will address the role of Confederate General John B. Hood’s column west of the Chickamauga on the afternoon of September 18, 1863.

Colonel John Thomas Wilder’s orders to take up position at Alexander’s came straight from the army commander, in person. How Wilder with his Spencer Repeating Rifle armed mounted infantry brigade did so much to fulfill those orders will be the subject of this program at the site John P. Alexander’s farmstead.