Big Round Top Trail at Gettysburg National Military Park

Length: .6 mile round trip
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate

The Big Round Top Trail leads to the summit of Big Round Top at Gettysburg National Military Park, but there are no views, only a few Union regimental monuments. If views are what you are seeking, head over to Little Round Top next door.

The trailhead is located at the southern end of the battlefield on South Confederate Avenue between the Warfield Ridge and Little Round Top stops on the Gettysburg Battlefield Tour. There is a small parking lot that holds about a dozen vehicles. There are also two portable toilets.

Start of the Big Round Top Trail at Gettysburg National Military Park

As you might expect, the hike to the summit of Big Round Top is uphill all the way. Though there is a small loop at the very end, this is for the most part an out-and-back hike. The trail used to be paved, but now there are only remnants of the asphalt.

Big Round Top Trail at Gettysburg National Military Park

On a few sections where the asphalt completely disappears, the Big Round Top Trail is covered in loose rocks, so watch where you put your feet so that you don’t twist an ankle.

Rocky section of the Big Round Top Trail at Gettysburg National Military Park

The Big Round Top Trail is fairly steep. The grade of the first quarter mile averages 13%, and that’s with the trail switch-backing up the mountain (S-shaped curves to make the climb less difficult). Most people consider a grade of 15% to be where strenuous hiking begins, so the trail is a little more difficult than moderate, but not quite strenuous. There are some short segments that have a 25% grade, but these are usually over before you even start breathing hard.

There are a number of side trails that branch off from the main trail. Though unmarked, the first such trails are part of a loop that goes around the base of Big Round Top. Others are just shortcuts that head straight up the hill, connecting from one switchback to the next. If you keep coming upon asphalt, you know you are on the official trail. (I hiked halfway around the base of Big Round Top on the Bridle Trail Loop Hike, the best hike at Gettysburg National Military Park.)

The first regimental monuments are a quarter mile up the hill. The fronts of the monuments are facing the trees, so it’s hard to see them, and equally hard to photograph them. Unlike Little Round Top, Big Round Top was not a strategic position due to the fact that it was covered with trees, thus making it impossible to position artillery on it. Some Confederates snuck up to the top on the second night of fighting and took shots at the Union troops on Little Round Top, so Union Brigadier General Samuel Crawford moved three regiments to Big Round Top to prevent further harassment. One of the regiments was the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry commanded by Joshua Chamberlain, a hero earlier in the day for stopping the Confederate assault on Little Round Top. There is a 20th Maine monument on Little Round Top as well.

20th Maine Infantry Monument (1889) on Big Round Top, Gettysburg National Military Park

119th Pennsylvania Infantry Monument (1888) on Big Round Top, Gettysburg National Military Park

There are also remnants of stone walls that soldiers used for protection. Most of these were existing fences built by the local farmers, though soldiers may have beefed them up with additional stone and tree branches.

Stone wall near the summit of Big Round Top, Gettysburg National Military Park

About a hundred yards past the first monuments is where the short loop around the summit of Big Round Top begins. When the trail forked, I went to the left in the direction of a staircase, but it doesn’t matter which way you go around. It is about .3 mile to the top.

Stairs to the summit of Big Round Top at Gettysburg National Military Park

At the top of the stairs are more monuments, but again, it’s hard to see all sides due to their proximity to the trees.

5th Pennsylvania Reserves, 34th Infantry Regiment Monument (1890) on Big Round Top, Gettysburg National Military Park

12th Pennsylvania Reserves, 41st Infantry Monument (1890) on Big Round Top, Gettysburg National Military Park

The small, stone markers you see on Big Round Top—and throughout the Gettysburg battlefield—are flank markers. There are two for each regiment, one marking the position of the right flank and the other the left flank. In the photo below, the markers indicate that the left flank of the 5th Pennsylvania Reserves was adjacent to the right flank of the 12th Pennsylvania Reserves, thus the two units formed an unbroken battle line.

Flank markers on Big Round Top, Gettysburg National Military Park

When you get back around to where you started the loop, that’s the end of the Big Round Top Trail. Head back down the way you came to complete the hike. Total distance traveled is roughly three quarters of a mile. The trip took me a half hour.

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