Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park — Attraction in Marietta

Beautiful place ....picnick..good hiking track... Weekends gets busy...parkingspots get filled fast..good for early hikers

Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park is a 2,923-acre (11.8 km2) National Battlefield that preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. There are three battlefield areas: In front of the Visitor Center, off Burnt Hickory Road and a major site at Cheatham Hill (commonly known as the Dead Angle). At the southern tip of the park, Peter Valentine Kolb's farm house, where a minor battle was fought, has been restored to its original condition. The Visitor Center contains an information desk, museum, and a theater which screens movies about the battle fought there. While walking some of the 17.3 miles (27.8 km) of interpretive hiking trails, historic earthworks, cannon emplacements, and various interpretive signs can be seen. There are three monuments representing some of the states who fought here - Illinois, Texas, and Georgia. Kennesaw Mountain is 1,808 feet (551.1 m) above sea level. It is approximately a 664-foot (202 m) gain in elevation from the Visitor Center to the mountain's summit. The hike up is approximately 1.4 miles (2.3 km) on the road and 1.1-mile (1.8 km) on the trail.

History

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, fought here between Generals William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union army and Joseph E. Johnston of the Confederate army, took place between June 18, 1864, and July 2, 1864. Sherman's army consisted of 100,000 men, 254 cannons and 35,000 horses, while Johnston's army had only 50,000 men and 187 cannons. Much of the battle took place not on Kennesaw Mountain itself, but on a spur of Little Kennesaw Mountain known now as Pigeon Hill, and the area to its south around Cheatham Hill. A total of 5,350 soldiers died during the battle, which resulted in a...

I will say that I have hiked every mile of this park multiple times. The main visitors center and trail leading up to Kennesaw Mountain overlook are nearly always overcrowded. As a local I have learned to avoid these areas at all cost, especially on weekends when the trendy folks from ATL come to be outdoorsy. :)

My recommended section of the park is off of Burnt Hickory road. This lot can be busy on evenings and weekends so I try to go early in the morning which is the best time to hike in my opinion. Cross Burnt Hickory Rd. and take the trail up Pigeon Hill and on to Little Kennesaw Mountain. I find this trail much less crowded and the views are wonderful. It is a bit strenuous at points if physical conditioning is an issue. A simpler and also pleasant trail goes south (not crossing the street) out of the same parking lot. This will eventually take you to a nice creek. I often see the most deer on this trail.

I have read a lot of complaints about the new parking fee structure. You can pay online it just takes a few steps and you will need your license plate number. I enjoy these trails so much that I am willing to pay the fee. Every state park in GA has charged $5 for parking for years. It was a luxury to have a National Park with free parking and no park entrance fee. Try getting into most National Parks without paying a fee. You won’t!

The National Parks are always underfunded and it takes a lot more to run these parks than people recognize. These places simply would not exist without some form of oversight and protection. They would be developed into high end condos and no longer places of refuge and recreation. If you don’t want the parking fee then write your Congress person and tell them to appropriate more funds to the National...

Firstly the parking is inadequate, to which no one pays admission except for people dumb enough to go into the visitor center. I went in with my son and a volunteer was sitting immediately to the left at a desk wearing the same exact thing as the park service. I asked where to pay for admission and had exact cash in my hand which was a rare occasion. The person informed me that the person behind the counter would accept my money and then pay for it on his card because they didn't accept cash. I asked how can they legally do that and told me something that was completely wrong went I went and to go to the ranger(?). I went to him and tried to explain what the volunteer told me to pay which was apparently incorrect, I asked why we couldn't use cash and all he did was hand me a piece of paper and dude could give a damn less. Proceeded to walk through their little museum and we had a ranger check up on us which was weird. We left out and everybody was watching which again was weird. I would recommend doing like everybody else does skipping paying, skipping the museum, avoid anything to do with the employees, and just enjoy the nature of it if you must go. When I went there was no parking the place was packed but like I said nobody was on the inside. I went because my son wanted to see the history of the place it being a battlefield and he being 9. Instead I got a oogled like I was trying to rob a bank. I would say...