I’m on a quest to visit every national historic site, monument and park in the United States. Fortunately, I currently live in a part of the country where there are a lot of National Parks. Most of these parks are historic monuments, which my wife does not always find interesting enough to spend most of a Saturday visiting. She knows how I get. I’ll need to see “one more thing, then we can go,” and four hours later I still won’t be ready. This is how it was when I decided to visit Saratoga National Historical Park. I tried to convince her. “The most interesting part of American history is the Revolutionary War.” “No it isn’t,” said my wife as she decided to stay home. Thus, I found myself driving to Upstate New York alone.

It took me a little while to get there. I stuck strictly to the speed limit as I have a problem with speeding in the State of New York. My route took me through the Town of Half Moon. I vaguely remembered that I had ancestors that lived in Half Moon in the early nineteenth century. I had always been intrigued by the name when doing genealogical research, and wondered where it was. I was surprised to find it on my drive, and was a little disappointed I hadn’t planned to stop and potentially do some more research.

I forget how beautiful this part of New York is. I drive I-90 across New York fairly often, and I can forget that the view from the interstate is very different from the scenery along a winding country road. The drive was really nice, and there were a lot of people out biking and enjoying the beautiful day. As I entered the park, I was struck again by the beauty of the landscape.

Saratoga National Historical Park preserves the battlefield of one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War. At the visitor center, I watched the nice movie, depicting the circumstances and characters in the battle. The battle was fought in stages over several weeks, and was fairly complex as far as troop movements. There is a “fiber optic map” (aka a model of the area with lights) showing troop movements at various stages of the battle. The fiber optic presentation was fairly long, and a little confusing since I couldn’t keep the various leaders and their allegiances straight.

After watching the fiber optic map presentation, I hit the trail. The ranger went over the various hiking options, and what I would see on the hike and on the scenic drive. There is a 2 mile loop hike, a four mile loop hike, and a 10 mile scenic drive. The ranger recommended going on a hike (either length) and the scenic drive. I went on the 4 mile hike. I misunderstood when the ranger explained that the grounds were open until dusk, but the road for the scenic drive was closed at 5:00. I showed up at the gate of the scenic drive at 5:33. I’ll need to come back to the park again to do the auto tour. Another reason to research these trips before setting out.

My hike was beautiful, and I am happy I took the four-mile loop, even though it meant missing the scenic drive. The hike looped through old farm fields, and hit many interpretive areas where important events in the battle took place. Not all of these points were on the auto tour. There were so many birds as I walked. The trail passes through many different habitats, and each were beautiful on their own. Blooming may apple, Barred Owls calling in the woods, warblers flitting in the trees, and a Pileated Woodpecker three feet from the trail were all highlights. The young woods and wild grasslands were hard to envision as cultivated wheat fields.

There is a little spur of the trail that stops at ‘The Boot Monument.” This monument honors the contributions of an American officer to the victory, without mentioning that officer’s name: General Benedict Arnold. The ranger told me that this battle was the beginning of the end for Benedict Arnold’s allegiance to the American cause. The visitor center movie depicted him as being unnecessarily melodramatic by refusing to serve under General Horatio Gates when he disagreed with his decisions. General Gates responded by writing Arnold a pass to Philadelphia, effectively relieving him from duty. However, Arnold appeared on the battlefield (without any solders under his command) and rallied the troops during a critical moment in the battle. Arnold was seriously injured in the leg, and never fully recovered. His field career was over, and he was sent to Philadelphia. There he met his Loyalist wife, and his loyalties shifted.

The British were attempting to cut New England off from the rest of the colonies. The battle was fought here because the American fortifications constructed along the Hudson River prevented the British forces from continuing south from their victories at Fort Ticonderoga and other battles. The American fortifications were constructed by Colonel Tadeusz Kościuszko, who is a figure I have heard of, but remains a mystery to me. Along the auto tour, there is a monument to Kościuszko, as well as a view of the Hudson from bluffs where the Americans set up their fortifications. I wanted to learn a little about Kościuszko, and imagine what it would have been like to see the columns of troops marching down the Hudson. Instead, I drove along Route 4, next to the Hudson. I tried to get a sense of what it would have been like to have been a Hessian, running the gauntlet under a barrage of artillery from the hilltops. I didn’t quite experience that, but the Hudson is really beautiful here. I paused next to the river and got a sense of that instead. Fortunately, there is a National Memorial to Kosciuszko in Philadelphia.

Despite being locked out of the auto tour, I really enjoyed my visit to the Saratoga National Historical Park. The hike was unexpectedly beautiful, and I learned a little more about the American Revolution. I was disturbed by how much time I spent thinking about the Brady Bunch episode where Peter has to play Benedict Arnold in the school play. That sad fact made me realize how little I know about about the Revolutionary War. Fortunately there are some more accurate resources at the library for me to access. Each visit to a national park prompts me to learn more, and start planning my next trip. Saratoga National Historical Park was well worth the drive.