Pea Ridge National Military Park

National Military Park, Authorised 1956. 4,300 Acres Preserving The 7 8 March 1862 Battlefield, The Largest Civil War Engagement West Of The Mississippi River And One Of The Most Intact Civil War Battlefields In The United States. A Preserved Segment Of The Trail Of Tears Crosses It. · Garfield, Arkansas

On 7 and 8 March 1862 about twenty-six thousand men fought across these fields and ridges in the largest Civil War battle west of the Mississippi. A smaller Union force under Samuel Curtis beat Earl Van Dorn's army, and in doing so held Missouri for the Union for the rest of the war - which is why a battle most people have never heard of mattered more than many they have. Cherokee and other Native troops fought here in numbers on the Confederate side, the only major battle of the war where that was true. What makes the park unusual is how little has happened to it since: 4,300 acres of field, fence line and woodland kept as the farmland looked in 1862, with almost no modern intrusion inside the boundary. A seven-mile road tour runs the ground, the rebuilt Elkhorn Tavern stands where it changed hands twice in two days, and a preserved trace of the Trail of Tears crosses the battlefield on the old Telegraph Road.

15930 East Highway 62, Garfield, Arkansas, 72732, United States

The visitor centre and the seven-mile tour road keep daytime hours and close on major winter holidays; the road is gated outside those hours. Trails are open during park hours. There is an entrance fee per person or vehicle, and federal interagency passes are accepted. Living history programmes run mostly in spring and autumn and around the March anniversary. Confirm hours and fees before travelling - both change.

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