When you visit someplace for what you know will be a good hike and there are fantastic views associated, you’re pretty much guaranteed to enjoy your time there. Adding some incredible history on top of that is like hitting the trifecta.
Getting Started
We had originally planned to hike up into the mountains on the part of the Appalachian Trail that has some serious elevation changes (1/2 mile in 2 miles). Unfortunately, we got up and out too late, and we wanted to do some wine tasting at places like Two Twisted Posts, so we decided to do more of combination of an “urban hike” and suburban hike (see our Nature-Hiking page).
Initially, we parked downtown near the railroad tracks along the Potomac River on the street. We paid using ParkMobile with the app on our iPhone. It’s a fairly simple app to use and works similar to using a parking meter.
Where Did We Decide to Hike?
Our urban hike incorporated a tiny bit of the Appalachian Trail, the part that crosses over the railroad bridge from Maryland, and up the Appalachian Trail Staircase. After that it parallels Shenandoah Street and the railroad until it goes across the Shenandoah River via the William L. Wilson Freeway bridge to Virginia. The path across the railroad bridge gives great views of the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. From the walkway on the railroad bridge, you can see the abutments and piers of the previous bridges. Remnants of the Bollman Bridge (the old railroad bridge across the Potomac River), and the two Shenandoah Bridges (old vehicular bridge across the Shenandoah River) are still clearly visable.
The town itself is filled with history, buildings, shops (both open and museum like), the Black Voices Museum, the John Brown Wax Museum (tons of history in the wax museum), places to stay, cozy restaurants, and the railroad tressle. There’s also an information center there as well as the Visitor’s Center we’ll describe further in the article.
After that we went directly to the Visitor’s Center at Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park. The entrance fee is $10 for a single private vehicle, and they have a very large parking area.
Visitor’s Center
At the Visitor’s Center, they have regular shuttles that run back and forth into downtown Harper’s Ferry. It was then we realized we could’ve avoided a parking fee in town had we parked at the park first. A covered area with a queue line is provided for the shuttle. Bathroom facilities and a small book store are in the same area. Detailed information regarding the many facets of the park can be obtained in the book store.
Murphy Farm
We got information about the available trails from the very nice staff. We quickly became interested in the Murphy-Chambers Farm Trail overlooking the Shenandoah River. The trail started at the Visitor’s Center and after about a half mile we got to the Murphy-Chambers Farm. There’s a loop and some spurs that are we maintained, however, some are grass and need a little more effort to traverse.
Along the trail, there are a few historic buildings and foundations. Provided are plaques with information about the historical context and significance of the property.
Bolivar Heights
We also decided to do a very short half mile hike on the Bolivar Heights Scenic Overlook and battlefield. It is the site of several battles between the north and south during the Civil War. There’s a small parking area at the head of the trail that includes a handicapped accessible space. Also located there are portable potties, one of which is accessible.
What Else Is There?
There’s so much to see at Harper’s Ferry. You could easily spend a few days there and not see everything. There’s more than just battlefields and Civil War history. There are a couple of mill ruins (cotton and pulp), the staircase rapids, the old canal, blacksmith shop and historic houses that can be toured. There are also some quaint BnBs both in town and outside, but in town requires booking further in advance.