The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is among the largest military parks in the world, preserving portions of four separate Civil War battlefields: Fredericksburg (December 1862), Chancellorsville (May 1863), the Wilderness (May 1864), and Spotsylvania Court House (May 1864). Together they tell the story of one of the war's most decisive campaigns in miniature — the two-year struggle for the corridor between Washington and Richmond.
The park's two visitor centers, one at Fredericksburg and one at Chancellorsville, are excellent starting points. The Fredericksburg battlefield is the most accessible for walkers, with a well-marked trail along the famous Sunken Road where Confederate troops repulsed a dozen frontal assaults. Chancellorsville, about 12 miles west, is where Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own men. The Wilderness and Spotsylvania require a car. Allow a full day if you want to cover more than one battlefield.