The oranges and reds of autumn are on display during these warm days and cool nights at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. Visitors who explore the interconnected trails will be rewarded with cooler weather and pockets of deciduous trees, which change to rich reds, orange, and yellow in the fall. You can bring history alive as you visit the battlefield and experience the environment that has been preserved for all America. Whether your mode of transportation is walking, jogging, biking, horseback riding, and/or how the majority of our over 200,000 visitors enjoy the park, driving in your favorite vehicle, you will not be disappointed as you experience the battlefield as the soldiers did on that morning of August 10, 1861.
The battlefield has several key interpretive media and artifacts to assist you in creating a memorable experience for your visit: the finest Trans-Mississippi River collection of artifacts in the United States, an electric map that describes battle tactics, the largest Civil War library in the National Park Service system, a great Visitor Center to assist you with your visit, the friendliest Park Rangers, a 26 minute film, and a 5-mile tour road with eight wayside stops to explain what occurred on that warm and humid morning of August 10, 1861. Recently, a cell phone tour was added to our tour road. You can use your cell phone to access our self-guided driving tour. Just stop by the Visitor Center to obtain the access number.
Whether you drive or walk, your visit to the park will be filled with the spectacular autumn colors. One can almost hear the soldiers wake from their shelters, prepare the morning coffee as they look around the camp sites with the morning fog laying low to the ground with the sun streaming through the trees. Come out to the battlefield to learn about the history of this special place located in the greater Springfield area.
