Gettysburg's famous Little Round Top reopens after two-year rehabilitation project. This comes just in time for 161st anniversary events

Park and other officials cut the ribbon at the landmark (NPS photo)

Little Round Top, the legendary hill where Union forces fought off a furious Confederate assault on July 2, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg, reopened Monday afternoon after a two-year rehabilitation project that addressed problems associated with large crowds.

The news was met with enthusiasm from park fans and visitors who have been unable to hike or take a bus up to the popular site since July 2022. Park spokesman Jason Martz said Tuesday the feedback has been positive thus far.

“We know everyone has been anxious to get back to the summit, but your continued patience will still be required," Gettysburg National Military Park said on social media after the opening. "We fully anticipate the area will be very heavily visited so please work with our on-site staff. They will be strategically posted throughout the area to help get you acclimated."

The park cited erosion, overwhelmed parking areas, poor accessibility and related safety hazards, and degraded vegetation before the area was closed.

Visitors take in one of the Little Round Top markers near the summit (NPS photo)

A ceremonial ribbon-cutting was held Monday morning ahead of the reopening. The conclusion of the work comes about a week before 161^st anniversary programming.

Little Round Top traditionally is the top destination for park visitors, followed by the visitor center and museum and Devil's Den, which reopened in September 2022 after a rehabilitation effort.

“The (Little Round Top) project enhances access to a more extensive, safe, and accessible trail system that allows visitors to experience the area's monuments, cannons, and other areas of interest,” the park in southern Pennsylvania said in a news release.

“Gathering areas across the summit will better accommodate the many large groups arriving by bus. Eroded soils have been stabilized and re-vegetated. New interpretive waysides throughout the area tell the story of those who suffered, died, and memorialized the battlefield. In addition, satellite parking has been expanded and formalized in the area with access to the trail system.”

The project included significant work around monuments and trails (NPS)

Some 164 feet above the Plum Run Valley to the west, the hill became the anchor of the Union’s left flank and a focal point of Confederate attacks. The 4^th,15^{th and 47th} Alabama regiments made a series of legendary assaults against the 20^th Maine.

“The (Maine) regiment’s sudden, desperate bayonet charge blunted the Confederate assault on Little Round Top and has been credited with saving Major General George Gordon Meade’s Army of the Potomac, winning the Battle of Gettysburg and setting the South on a long, irreversible path to defeat,” according to the American Battlefield Trust.

The regiment was led by Joshua Chamberlain, and its heroics has been remembered in film and folklore.

David Duncan, president of the American Battlefield Trust, a partner in the Little Round Top project, said in a statement:

“Gettysburg veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Joshua Chamberlain (right) noted that ‘In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays’ and there are few landscapes for which that power of place is more tangible than Little Round Top. “Now revitalized and enhanced, it stands ready to welcome this and future generations, a place where they can feel a meaningful connection to the past.”

Superintendent Kris Heister told the Picket in March improvements at Little Round Top and Devil’s Den have provided “a high-quality visitor experience and resource protection to ensure those resources are available to future generations in good condition.”

At Little Round Top, she said, traffic circulation patterns have been improved and individuals with mobility issues (whether considered handicapped or not) will now be able to visit the hill.

Breastworks have been rehabilitated, new wayside exhibits were installed, some social trails removed and others have been formalized, providing access to areas of the hill and monuments that haven't been accessible in years.

Designated bus parking has been added and gathering spaces have been formalized to reduce off-trail use and facilitate the many groups that visit, Heister said.

The cost of the Little Round Top project was $12.9 million, of which $5.2 million came from donations from the Gettysburg Foundation, National Park Foundation and the American Battlefield Trust.

Officials ask visitors to park on Sedgwick or South Confederate avenues and take one of the new trailheads to the summit. The park has provided this FAQ about parking. There are changes.