Picnic table under a wooden canopy at Antietam National Battlefield

There are a few locations within Antietam National Battlefield that have picnic tables, but none of them have grills. If you don’t require a table, you can picnic on your own blanket or the bare ground anywhere except at Antietam National Cemetery, the Mumma Cemetery, the Observation Tower, Dunker Church, Burnside Bridge, or near park monuments.

MAIN PICNIC AREA

The main picnic area at Antietam National Battlefield is located on Shepherdstown Pike east of Rodman Avenue and west of the Newcomer House. It is really not much of a picnic area, and you certainly won’t want to hold any events here. The spot is marked on the park brochure, but there are no signs along the road identifying it.

When I visited, the picnic area was in pretty poor condition with four dilapidated tables on cement pads, one of which was under a wooden canopy (actually, the one under the canopy is in decent shape). These tables look so old that I wouldn’t be surprised if they were here during the Battle of Antietam. You may well be eating at a table that General Lee himself ate at. The grass may be cut by the time you visit, but it’s anyone’s guess as to if and when the tables will ever be upgraded.