Stones River National Battlefield Visitor Center

OPERATING HOURS

The Stones River National Battlefield Visitor Center is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM except for when closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Keep in mind that times can always change, so before making travel plans be sure to check the park’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page.

AMENITIES

• Ranger-staffed information desk where you can pick up a park brochure
• Book and souvenir store
• Museum
• Auditorium where a short film about the battle is shown
• Restrooms

The park also offers a number of Ranger programs from April through December, and it is at the Visitor Center where you can get a daily schedule. Programs include lectures, battlefield hikes, bike tours, evening cemetery walks, living history, and weapons demonstrations such as cannon and musket firing. Up until Memorial Day most programs are offered on weekends, but once school is out there are daily offerings. The weapons demonstrations are not as frequent and are generally held on weekends once or twice a month. For those who would like to plan ahead, you can get a schedule on the park’s Calendar web page.

PARK FILM

A 9-minute film about the Battle of Stones River features real actors and PG-rated battle scenes. Men get shot and fall dead without any display of blood and guts, but the dead on the battlefield often have bloodied faces and bullet holes in their heads, so be sure your kids are mature enough before taking the entire family to see the film. Kids 10 and older should be able to handle it, or kids of any age who are familiar with the concepts of war and death.

MUSEUM

Before heading out to tour the battlefield, it is always best to educate yourself about the battle so that what you see makes more sense. The Visitor Center at Stones River National Battlefield features an excellent museum. Wind your way clockwise through the exhibits, which start off with the origins of the Civil War and the situation in Murfreesboro up until the fighting began, and then progress to the Battle of Stones River where an entire room is dedicated to the events that took place. The aftermath of the fighting and even subsequent battles in Tennessee have their place among the information panels, dioramas, audio recordings of letters from soldiers, and actual artifacts found on the battlefield that tell the story of the death and destruction brought upon Murfreesboro for the New Year, 1863.