Gettysburg Bicycling Tips - Civil War Cycling

This article provides biking tourists with four must-know Gettysburg bicycling tips—starting with whether to ride self-guided or with a licensed battlefield guide. The goal of this and other publications is to provide bicycling resources that make learning Civil War history an engaging and active experience.

Our resources are designed to help you navigate the battlefield’s terrain, appreciate its historical significance, and make the most of your visit. With our maps and guidebooks, we free cyclists from the tedium of detailed route planning so that you can experience the battlefield and the battle narrative as one thrilling educational adventure.

This article’s four tips point you into Civil War Cycling’s deep repository of free information. Part of that includes mentioning how our guidebooks and maps can significantly ease—perhaps mostly eliminate—your planning burden. From deciding between solo rides or guided tours to understanding the importance of using detailed maps, we cover the critical components of a safe and informative journey.

More Gettysburg Bicycling Tips

For comprehensive and detailed trip planning information, please consider grabbing a copy of Sue Thibodeau’s printed guidebook, Bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park: The Cyclist’s Civil War Travel Guide (Amazon paid link), especially pp. 47-79. Rather than go directly to Amazon, you can also read a detailed book description and editorial reviews in Civil War Cycling’s Shop.

Whether you’re a casual or seasoned cyclist, history enthusiast or scholar, Civil War Cycling provides the tools and insights needed for a memorable Gettysburg experience. Explore the following Gettysburg Bicycling Tips to start planning your adventure today.

Tip 1. Decide whether you want to ride on your own or with a guide.

Planning your Gettysburg cycling tour begins with one important decision: Will you ride solo or benefit from expert guidance?

Self-guided bike tours offer flexibility and the freedom to explore at your own pace. They’re ideal for independent travelers who enjoy studying maps, interpreting historic landscapes, and making spontaneous stops at monuments and key battlefield sites. With the right preparation and a high-quality battlefield map, a self-guided ride can be both enriching and memorable.

On the other hand, guided bicycle tours of Gettysburg—whether led by licensed battlefield guides, cycling tour companies, or local historians—provide structured interpretation and storytelling. These tours are perfect for visitors seeking expert insights, historical context, and worry-free navigation across the park’s roads and trails.

Not sure which to choose? Consider your group’s experience level, interest in Civil War history, and comfort with road cycling. Civil War Cycling supports both approaches, offering detailed battlefield maps and educational resources to make either option rewarding. Whichever route you take, Gettysburg National Military Park promises a powerful journey through American history—best appreciated when planned with intention.

For more help deciding between solo rides or guided tours, please visit the following pages:

Bicycle Rentals

For years, I recommended GettysBike Tours, a small business that operated out of the Bus/RV parking lot near the park’s Baltimore Pike entrance. Unfortunately, GettysBike announced on its website at https://gettysbike.com/ that it closed its business effective January 1, 2024. They stated that “a prospective owner is interested” and that they “may re-open in 2025.” As of May 30, there is no further update. GettysBike was a great place to rent bicycles and/or enjoy a bike tour led by one of Gettysburg’s licensed battlefield guides. Let’s hope they reopen soon.

You can also rent bicycles from Gettysburg Bicycle (307 York Street). From the store’s location on York Street, you can pedal one block south on Stratton Street, turn left on East Middle Street for 0.1 mile, and then turn right to enter Gettysburg National Military Park at East Confederate Avenue.

Use the following “segment map” to get from Gettysburg Bicycle to one of several entrances to the battlefield. The bike shop is not on the map, because the map’s purpose is to detail one “segment” of a larger “route map.” Gettysburg Bicycle is near York at Stratton in the upper left corner of this image:

Gettysburg bicycling tip about bike rentals — Civil War Cycling Sample Segment Map (a small part of a PDF map)

From the bicycle shop on York Street, you can easily connect to the battlefield park by following Civil War Cycling “Segment E,” where you will ride south along the Confederate left flank (July 2-3, 1863) for 1.9 miles to Spangler’s Spring, and then pedal north and up the 0.4-mile ascent to the Culp’s Hill summit. For maps, cues, tips, and photographs, see “Segment E (Culp’s Hill Area)” in Bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park: The Cyclist’s Civil War Travel Guide (Amazon paid link), pp. 113-116.

The “Segment E” map is one example of how Civil War Cycling designs routes that avoid, where possible, highly trafficked roads. In this case, we ride on Stratton Street rather than Baltimore Street.

Licensed Battlefield Guides

Outside of a GettysBike reservation, I am not aware of any bicycle tours led by a Licensed Battlefield Guide. If this interests you, I suggest that you try the LBG Contact Us page. The licensed guides at Gettysburg are the best of the best. If a bike tour does not work out for you, please know that the LBGs will drive your car, allow you to ride in theirs, or lead a walking tour—all customized to the needs and wants of your particular group. Advance reservations are generally required.

Tip 2. Get excited! Imagine the possibilities.

The Civil War Cycling Blog is a growing collection of posts about bicycling U.S. Civil War battlefields. Gettysburg currently gets the most attention. You might want to peruse our archive of blog posts for titles like these:

It’s a short but steep ride up Sickles Avenue at Devil’s Den, Gettysburg

Tip 3. Begin your trip planning with four simple steps.

In 2017, I wrote a short, motivational blog post that outlined 4 Simple Steps to Plan a Battlefield Bicycle Tour. This was two years before the publication of my first Civil War travel guide for bicyclists. Its strength is that it may have appealed to curious tourists who had never thought about touring a U.S. national military park on a bicycle and who were beginning to imagine the value of that experience. Its weakness is that it relies on other Civil War Cycling articles (and now, more recent printed and digital publications) to discuss planning considerations and details.

In 2025, I have updated these tips for cyclists who don’t need to be sold on the concept of bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park. I retained the original four-point structure of the “Simple Steps” blog post, namely: select a battlefield, identify logistical options, commit to the journey, and enjoy the ride.

1. Select a Battlefield—You Selected Gettysburg!

“Simple Steps” encourages you first to choose a battlefield that aligns with your interests and experience level. You have selected Gettysburg, obviously, or you would not be reading this page. If your interests might extend to other bikeable battlefields, “Simple Steps” points you to the official pages of the National Park Service for each site.

However, now that Civil War Cycling’s website has grown considerably, you will want to visit our “home” pages for Antietam, Chickamauga, and Gettysburg. From there, you can easily access detailed information that will help you to make informed decisions about your touring options. Each battlefield “home” page includes historical context, route options, and points of interest to enhance the touring experience.

2. Identify Logistical Options

The second step focuses on logistics, emphasizing the importance of planning accommodations, meals, and equipment needs. “Simple Steps” described the general principles around selecting a suitable bicycle and considerations for selecting bicycle-friendly lodging, but mostly pointed readers to the following blog posts:

Nevertheless, your best source for logistical information is Sue Thibodeau’s printed guidebook, Bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park: The Cyclist’s Civil War Travel Guide (Amazon paid link), especially pp. 47-79. The guidebook suggests considering factors such as distance, terrain, and location of water and restrooms to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable tour.

For a full description of the guidebook’s touring and historical content, read a detailed book description and editorial reviews. On the other hand, if you prefer PDF maps of different bicycle routes—scaled by distance and difficulty, or focus on historical theme—please consult the route table in “Selecting Your Gettysburg Bicycle Route.”

The printed guidebook and PDF maps will help you to plan and complete a safe and educational battlefield bike tour.

3 & 4. Commit and Embrace

The final steps of the “Simple Steps” blog post encourage you to commit to your plan and embrace the adventure. That motivational piece did not elaborate on what it means to make planning commitments. Safe, educational, and fun bicycle tours of Gettysburg National Military Park do not “just happen,” especially without a guide.

Here is where we are in the process…

You have selected the battlefield park that you want to cycle, and you have identified a realistic set of options concerning equipment, transportation, and lodging.

At this point, committing to your plan means all of the following, in no particular order:

Beef-up your history knowledge with some pre-trip reading.
Finalize decisions about what you’d like to see or learn on your tour.
Finalize your route selection (so that you can make decisions about food, water, and clothing choices).
Make lodging arrangements or reservations, as necessary.

For a more in-depth discussion of the above bullet points, see the blog post, “5 Tips for Planning a Great Civil War Bicycling Adventure.”

Tip 4. Get your maps!

If you read the post, “Why you need a guidebook to cycle Gettysburg,” then you understand that the official (free) NPS auto tour map is not designed for bicyclists and that GPS routes posted online are mostly for road cyclists. One-way roads, the difficulty planning a looped tour that avoids commercial traffic, and other unique characteristics of the Gettysburg road network largely invalidate the usefulness of most maps that you will find online.

Choose the Right Technology for You

Before setting out on your Gettysburg cycling adventure, ensure you have the appropriate maps to guide your journey. While GPS devices and smartphone apps are convenient, they may not always provide comprehensive coverage of the battlefield’s intricate roadways and historical landmarks. If you selected a Civil War Cycling PDF, download the map long before you arrive on the battlefield, because sometimes cellular signals can be weak. We recommend that you also print your map as a reliable backup in areas where digital signals may falter.

Consider Historical Content

The NPS map and other online maps contain little if any historical information for the bicycling historian. A guidebook that combines bicycling logistics and historical content (especially with respect to natural and physical battlefield structures that a cyclist will visit) is what you need. Investing in a detailed map like ours—with historical markers, landscape photos, and labeled natural and physical battlefield structures—will enhance your experience and advance your understanding of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Scale and Focus Your Learning Goals

Please note that Gettysburg is an “outdoor classroom” consisting, in part, of more than 1,300 monuments and markers. That is an impossibly high number of monuments to visit even on our 23.8-mile “Full Day Loop.” Each Civil War Cycling PDF map provides only a modest number of monument highlights. On the other hand, our guidebook is considerably more detailed and yet can only scratch the surface by covering: all 18 state monuments; all 8 equestrian monuments; 20 portrait statues; 7 other monuments to individuals; 14 corps headquarters monuments; and a very small sampling of regimental monuments (about 50).

On the other hand, if you are an experienced touring cyclist, and if you prefer to go light on history resources, online maps that you download and print will work well for you if these maps include a bike route that you can evaluate before your ride as satisfying your safety and educational goals. For example, you don’t want to discover while riding that truck traffic is heavy outside of park boundaries, or that it’s not so easy to avoid public roads while following one-way signs within the park, especially if you are trying to complete a looped ride.

This is why I prefer to bike when kids are in school. Less busses!

Visit Civil War Cycling’s Shop to find what you need.

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