Visiting Valley Forge L
OCATED in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, Valley Forge Na- tional Historical Park consists of 3,500 acres and has more than twenty-eight miles of trails suitable for biking, horseback riding, cross- country skiing, and hiking. The park is open 365 days a year from 7:00 a.m. until nightfall, and the Visitor Center is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except on Thanksgiving Day, Christ- mas Day, and New Year’s Day. Ad- mission to the park is free.
Many visitors begin their visit to Valley Forge at the Visitor Center, where they can obtain an overview of what life would have been like at Val- ley Forge for Washington’s army dur- ing the winter of 1777–1778. Various exhibits, featuring such items as fire-
Today, the magnificent National Memorial Arch, which was modeled after the Trium- phal Arch of Titus in Rome, Italy, is a dominant feature of the 3,500-acre Valley Forge National Historical Park.
arms, swords, and writings by soldiers, are available for viewing, and the staff at the Visitor Center offer pro- grams, tours, and interpretive activities to help guests more fully grasp the importance that Valley Forge has in the nation’s history.
As for seeing the park itself, there are a number of
options available. Many visitors choose to pick up a map at the Visitor Center and take a self-guided tour of the park, but guided tours, including guided walking tours, private vehicle tours, and bus tours, are all available. Among the sights visitors can see at Valley Forge are a number of reconstructed soldiers’ huts; Washington’s headquar- ters; and an interpretive living history experience at the Muhlenberg Brigade area, where living history interpreters and volunteers give visitors an idea of what camp life would have been like at Valley Forge.
Activities at Valley Forge, such as candlelight tours and an annual march-in commemorating the arrival of Washington’s army at Valley Forge, vary from week to week. Visitors may
want to check the park’s schedule of events to see what is going on during a visit. The schedule of events can be found on the Internet:
http://www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm. Reservations for the bus tours and the private vehicle tours can be made by calling the Encampment Store at (610) 783–1074. —JOE CURRERI
draw, proving that they could be a match for their former countrymen on the field of battle.
u This nineteenth-century artwork depicts General George Washington and the Continental Army at the Battle of Monmouth.
place on June 28, 1778, the Americans attacked the British Army in New Jersey as it made its way from Philadelphia to New York. It was here that all of von Steuben’s training paid off. The Americans lost fewer troops in this battle than the British did, and they managed to fight the British to a
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The Continental Army’s 1777–1778 winter at Valley Forge was important be- cause what had entered Valley Forge as a brave but largely ill-trained fighting force had emerged a more capable army that would go on to secure the thirteen former colonies’ indepen- dence from Great Britain. Today, a dominant fea- ture of the 3,500-acre Val- ley Forge National Histori- cal Park is the magnificent National Memorial Arch, which was modeled after the Triumphal Arch of Titus in Rome, Italy. The tower- ing monument contrasts sharply with the humble
replica soldiers’ huts nearby, but together they are a poignant reminder that the common human suffering at Valley Forge served an important cause. As the inscrip- tion on the National Memorial Arch states, it was here where “the life of America rose.” ■
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PHOTO: ©BETTMANN/CORBIS
PHOTO: ©VALLEY FORGE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
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