Your Maps to Bike Gettysburg. A Mini-Book Series.
How about a little fieldbook to stuff into your jersey while cycling Gettysburg? Civil War Cycling gives you options to lighten your ride while up-sizing your learning. In the Spring of 2021, we are publishing another set of educational products for people who enjoy learning American history outdoors—like a kid on a bike. Add one of our Maps to Bike Gettysburg mini-books to your touring kit!
Civil War Cycling’s touring publications are for people who want to combine learning U.S. Civil War history with a physical experience of a battlefield landscape. On a bike, you can easily gain a better appreciation for battlefield hills and swales and for distances covered.
Read on to learn more… Or click on the first graphic to jump straight to our shop bookshelf…
On Sale Now! $9.95
Building on the success of our information-packed Gettysburg guidebook, we added a set of slim 5″ x 8″ color paperbacks to our lineup. Whereas our guidebook appeals to both cyclists and non-cyclists due to its uniquely visual historical content, our new mini-books are designed to be more easily portable.
These lightweight volumes bridge the gap between the detailed and comprehensive 286-page guidebook, Bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park, and our even slimmer digital PDF companion maps. (Civil War Cycling publishes 11 routes through the Gettysburg battlefield).
Spring 2021 Series Launch
In 2021, you can purchase 3 different mini-books. Each book is a much-expanded paperback version of the same bike route described in a PDF companion map. You can read about each route in the web article, “Selecting Your Gettysburg Bicycle Route.” Or turn to Bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park, Chapter 7.
Civil War Cycling Shop Links:
- Maps to Bike Gettysburg No. 2: Battle Day 1 Loop (10.5 miles). June 2021. 62 pp.
ISBN 978-1-7326038-6-8 (pbk). - Maps to Bike Gettysburg No. 3b: Battle Days 2 and 3 Short Loop (10.7 miles). May 2021. 64 pp.
ISBN 978-1-7326038-8-2 (pbk). - Maps to Bike Gettysburg No. 5: The Ridges Extended Loop (12.2 miles). March 2021. 64 pp.
ISBN 978-1-7326038-9-9 (pbk).
For help picking the route that is best for you, please see the Table of Gettysburg Bicycles Routes on our website, here.
Featuring… Maps to Bike Gettysburg No. 5: The Extended Ridges Loop (12.2 miles)
Route 5 is one of our most popular and family-friendly routes. It covers the main Union and Confederate battle lines on July 2-3, 1863. You will visit the many Confederate state monuments on Seminary Ridge, which is the starting point for “Pickett’s Charge.” And you will also visit many Union monuments on Cemetery Ridge, including Little Round Top. More broadly, Route 5 covers East Cemetery Hill, Seminary Ridge, Little Round Top, Devil’s Den, Rose Woods, The Peach Orchard, and Cemetery Ridge.
Maps to Bike Gettysburg No. 5: The Ridges Extended Loop (Amazon paid link) contains 16 detailed color maps with corresponding bicycle cue tables; 62 color photos; monument GPS points; and micro-histories for learning about the Battle of Gettysburg. At 64 pages, this mini-book is small enough to tuck into your cycling jersey.
Ride park roads where busses are forbidden!
On Route 5, you will enjoy a winding, up-and-down ride (a 728′ cumulative gain) through fields and woodlots, some of which are not on the park auto tour. Each Civil War Cycling route is divided into segments so that you can so that navigational cues are easier to understand and physical and natural landmarks more easily identified. For an example, see the Segment H map on this page.
Plan for a 3-hour ride with frequent stops to appreciate the beautiful landscape and some of the park’s 1,300+ monuments.
Like all Civil War Cycling routes through Gettysburg National Military Park, Route 5 limits exposure to busy roads; provides route-specific health and safety tips; identifies one-way roads; and notes the location of bicycle racks, water, restrooms, and picnic areas.
Your Fully Packed Guidebook for Bicycling Gettysburg
“After following the book’s Culp’s Hill course on a balmy Saturday morning in May, I’m sold that there may be no better way to tour the battlefield than on two wheels. The opportunity to cruise past the landscape’s open fields, rocky hills, and woodlots, while easily hopping on and off bike for frequent stops to read monuments or signage or to snap photographs, is incomparable.” ~Civil War Times
For people who enjoy planning a bicycle tour and studying U.S. Civil War history, we offer a 286-page color guidebook [SHOP] that boasts 34 maps, 100+ photos, and 100+ GPS points. It is both a travel guide and history reference. Bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park (Amazon paid link) will appeal to “bicycling historians” who want a complete introductory reference book for use completing a full-day tour of Gettysburg’s July 1–3. 1863 battlefield.
Your PDF Companion Maps for Mobile Devices
For people who want only to read bicycle maps and cue tables (with a small sampling of historical and site highlights), we offer downloadable PDF document maps [SHOP]. These maps are optional “companions” to our flagship guidebook. But they can also work well with Civil War Cycling’s new mini-guidebook series.
Each PDF file provides maps, cues, and photos for a specific battlefield route having a specific historic theme and varying levels of difficulty. The routes are loops that range from 2.4 miles to 23.8 miles. All Civil War Cycling products are independently usable. Buy only what you need or want.
Route 5 Mini-Book versus Route 5 Companion Map (pdf)
Not a cyclist?
If you are not a cyclist, buy the 286-page guidebook for its condensed but uniquely detailed historical summaries. The last third of this book is a monument reference that includes many color photos, map/gps locations, and mini-histories. Monument histories are uniquely organized by theme, e.g., state monuments, equestrian monuments, portrait statues, etc.
Considering a Bike Tour?
If you are considering a bike tour, surf the Civil War Cycling website and decide whether you want to start with our 286-page guidebook. This book features Route 1, the 23.8-mile Full Day Loop.
Alternatively, select a shorter bike route and buy its corresponding mini-book and/or PDF product.
Planning your Gettysburg ride?
If you are planning a Gettysburg ride, consider what combination of products make sense for you:
- Guidebook? For pre-trip planning and historical reading. You can also carry this paperback on your ride.
- Mini-book? An economy option for cyclists who want to travel light and learn historical highlights.
- PDF download? The most lightweight and inexpensive option with some photos and a little history.
If you buy Maps to Bike Gettysburg No. 5: The Ridges Extended Loop (Amazon paid link), you might want also to consider the “Route 5 Companion Map,” described below:
The “Route 5 Companion Map” is a PDF document that you can print or view on your mobile device during a touring stop. This is a digital product; it contains much less historical information than the Maps to Bike Gettysburg No. 5 mini-book.
- PDF document download
- 21 full-color pages (maps, photos)
- Battle of Gettysburg, Days 2&3 focus
- 12.2 miles, Ridges Extended Loop
- 3 hour self-directed tour
- Detailed bicycle cues, road descriptions
- Identifies biking amenties on route
- Geography and monument highlights
- View or print PDF for personal use
- (Not part of a GPS system)
Remember: You need a pre-installed version of Adobe’s free PDF reader to view and/or print Civil War Cycling’s PDF companion maps.