Guilford Courthouse

Hike: Guilford Courthouse
Location: Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
Nearby Town: Greensboro
Elevation (Max): N/A
Elevation Gained: N/A
Mileage: 1.8
Difficulty: Easy
Trailhead: From downtown Greensboro, take Rte 220 N (Battleground Ave) and then turn right on Old Battleground Road. Parking will be on the right. From the Triangle, take I-40 W. Then take Exit 227 to I-840 W and take Exit 18 onto US-70 W. Then turn R on Winstead Place, continue on W Northwood St, turn R at Battleground Ave, and then turn right onto Old Battleground Rd.
Web Site: http://www.nps.gov/guco/index.htm

I'm a bit of a history buff, so, as I mentioned in the previous post, E and I stopped at Guilford Courthouse Battlefield in Greensboro during our Piedmont Triad tour. This isn't so much a hike as it is a walk (albeit in the woods, which I have always used as the definition of a hike). Trails lead visitors around the battlefield to the many monuments scattered throughout the park and to key areas such as a creek the British charged across or the lines the American soldiers formed. Most of the trails are paved but some are loose gravel and they mostly go through woods with a few fields to cross as well. When the battle was fought here, more of the area was farmland, so the feeling one gets visiting is surely different from how it was for the soldiers on that day. And, in case you're wondering, the Americans (under the command of Nathaniel Greene) lost the battle, but, as seemed to happen so many times during the Revolutionary War, the victory was a Pyrrhic one for the British and only seven months later Cornwallis was besieged at Yorktown.

Park your car in the lot on Old Battleground Road, and cross the road to the visitor center where you can pick up a map of the park that also chronicles the battle. There are several paths that criss-cross throughout the park, and you can choose whichever you please, but E and I picked a route that took us around the majority of the park that worked pretty well. We began at the large monument of Nathaniel Greene mounted on his horse at the front of the park. From there, we went over to the monument to the North Carolinian signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Nathaniel Greene

Then we headed into the woods on the path to the left. This path, and most paths in the park, is windy and mostly flat with an occasional small hill. We crossed the first line the American troops formed and then came to a Y, where we turned left. Eventually we came to a T where we turned right up a hill that overlooks a field atop which is the Cavalry Monument. From this vantage point, one can begin to get a sense of what that day was like as you overlook the small field below. We continued on past the Cavalry Monument and took the path to the left. This trail will also split, we went right. The trail crosses New Garden Road (a gravel path) and continues on to a T. Go right here, cross a creek and you will soon be along the Americans' third, and last, line. There are replicas of the American six pound cannons nearby and the trail will lead to an automobile road. E and I walked along this a bit for any sign of Guilford Courthouse but we found none (the actual courthouse is long gone but we thought there might be a recreation or monument or something), so we turned around and walked along the side of the road until the New Garden Road split off.

Cavalry Monument overlooking a field

The replica cannons

We walked on this path back to the open field we saw earlier from the Cavalry Monument. There were pretty flowering trees in the field, but we decided to turn right on a trail just before the field. This path leads to the Regulars Monument and, after taking a left at a trail junction, the Maryland and Delaware Monuments. We then took a right along the New Garden Road again, passed the Caldwell Monument, and within no time we were back at Nathaniel Greene and our car. There is also a drive you can do around the park (note the auto road we walked along) with turnoffs at significant areas. Since this is a hiking blog, though, I would encourage you to get out and walk the battlefield just as the soldiers did in 1781.