Civil War travel guides to learn history on a bike
Welcome to Civil War Cycling—your premier resource for exploring America’s historic battlefields by bicycle. Our mission is to provide cyclists and history enthusiasts with well-crafted Civil War travel guides and maps. Every ride should be a thrilling learning adventure over smoothly paved park avenues. (You won’t find bike trails for touring U.S. national military parks.)
Learn History on Two Wheels
Imagine pedaling through the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg, Antietam, or Chickamauga, with every turn bringing you closer to the pivotal moments that shaped the United States. Our guidebooks and maps help make that experience a reality. We provide detailed routes, historical insights, and practical tips to enrich your cycling experience. Civil War Cycling identifies circular routes over the least-busy roads. Our materials also note the location of restrooms, water sources, and shady areas for rest.
On a bike, it is easy and natural to learn battlefield geography, especially with the help of our books and maps. You can use our maps to explore an “outdoor classroom” full of historic monuments, wayside exhibits, and beautiful landscapes. While pedaling and gliding on smoothly paved park roads that weave through fields and over gullies and hills, you can learn about the impact of a battle on local farming families.
What We Offer
- Comprehensive Guidebooks: Dive deep into the stories behind the landscapes with our expertly researched publications. Browse our shop for details about Civil War Cycling’s paperback guidebooks and mini-books.
- Detailed Maps: Navigate confidently with our high-quality maps tailored for cyclists seeking both adventure and education. Browse our shop to compare bike routes for Gettysburg, Antietam, and Chickamauga. Download your PDF map today!
- Educational Resources: Enhance your understanding of Civil War history with our curated materials designed for enthusiasts of all levels. Browse or study our free web resources at our “home pages” for Gettysburg, Antietam, and Chickamauga.
Civil War Cycling products are packed with color photos, color maps, and historical summaries that appeal to visual, experiential learners. And they are easy to use—no license keys or passwords.
Embark on Your Next Adventure with Our Civil War Travel Guides
Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist or a history buff looking to experience the past in a dynamic way, Civil War Cycling is here to guide you. Explore our resources and start planning your journey through America’s historic battlefields today.
Your adventure into history awaits.
What are people saying about our Civil War travel guides?
“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
“The best ways to truly see a battlefield are by walking and biking. And biking a battlefield such as Gettysburg provides a rush like no other. Sue has produced a valuable book about how to ride that most hallowed Civil War ground. A definite keeper.” ~John Banks, journalist, blogger, author
Where Will You Ride Next?
Explore our guidebooks and maps for your next scenic Civil War battlefield ride through a national military park.
Shop & bike Gettysburg…
Plan your Gettysburg bike tour and grab our guidebook and maps.
My cycling mistakes don’t have to be yours.
For more than thirty years, and over many dozens of visits, I toured Gettysburg National Military Park by bus, car, and foot. In 2012, I toured the battlefield on a bicycle for the first time. It was exhilarating!
And yet it took four years to work out the kinks in my self-directed, solo tours. I created my own maps (and guidebook) because I could not find any maps that met my needs as a bicycling tourist.
Trust me, if you want to learn about the Battle of Gettysburg while cycling Gettysburg National Military Park, you need either a tour guide or a guidebook written specifically for the needs of a bicycling historian.
~Sue Thibodeau, Civil War Cycling
Need convincing? Please read Civil War Cycling’s #1 Blog Post:
Biking the Gettysburg Battlefield—Not Just Any Map
Shop & bike Antietam…
Plan your Antietam bike tour and grab our guidebook and maps.
Need an introductory “how to” bike Antietam National Battlefield or detour from the C&O Canal Towpath? This Civil War Cycling article is for you:
Selecting Your Antietam Bicycle Route—Let’s Bike Antietam!
Shop & bike Chickamauga…
Plan your Chickamauga bike tour and grab our guidebook and map.
Curious about Chickamauga as a destination for bicycling historians? This Civil War Cycling article might put a Chickamauga bike tour on your bucket list:
Civil War Cycling Battlefield “Home” Pages
At Civil War Cycling, each battlefield park has its own home page that you can visit through these button links:
Each “home” page is your gateway to structured repositories for landscape photos, monument galleries, scavenger hunts, quizzes, study notes, and tips for planning your bicycle ride.
Battlefield Resources to Plan Your Self-Directed Tour
Specific to each battlefield, use this website’s free educational materials to design your ride’s learning goals:
- Landscape Photos: Review landscape photos to understand the geography of your ride (and the historical significance of where you are). We have “landscape photos” for Antietam and Gettysburg.
- Monument Galleries: Study monument photo galleries and micro-histories before your ride so that it is easier to understand the battle story once you are on site. We have “monument galleries” for Antietam and Gettysburg.
- Monument Hunts: Try our virtual “scavenger hunts” to match monument photos to Google map pins. The idea is to memorize or remember what monuments you will look for on your bicycle tour. We have “hunts” for Antietam and Gettysburg.
- Anonymous Quizzes: Play with Civil War Cycling’s interactive quizzes to test your knowledge or boost your memory about the people, places, and things pertaining to the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.
- Bicycle Routes and Tour Planning: Consider your options for different bicycle routes for different learning objectives. We offer battlefield bicycling tips for Antietam, Chickamauga, and Gettysburg.
- Annotated Bibliographies: Expand and deepen your knowledge of the U.S. Civil War by consulting Civil War Cycling’s annotated bibliographies of recommended reading for Antietam, Chickamauga, Gettysburg, and the U.S. Civil War.
- Primary Source Material: Serious students will dive into our hyperlinked information repository that connects you with the Official Records, Orders of Battle, and various databases and images in the public domain. Start with Civil War Cycling’s Study Notes page for Gettysburg.
Where to Begin
In summary, here are the links to Civil War Cycling’s “home” pages for planning a self-directed, educational bicycle tour through a U.S. Civil War battlefield park:
- Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
- Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland
- Chickamauga Battlefield in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia
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We hope that you enjoy our website. It is ad-free, without pop-ups or flashing banners. We do not track your clicks for marketing purposes, nor do we request your personal information. On the other hand, if you follow an “Amazon paid link,” Sue Thibodeau may receive a fee from Amazon at no cost to you. Thank you for helping to offset the expense of hosting this website.
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