National Public Lands Day

Join volunteers across the nation on Saturday, September 27, 2025, taking part in National Public Lands Day - the largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands in the United States. This year’s activities at Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park will focus on battlefield restoration in removing vegetation between Battleline Road and the Kelly Field on the Chickamauga Battlefield.

In 1863, the area along Battleline Road was part of a cedar glade stretching approximately 1-mile in length, north to south, and 100-150 yards wide at various points along its extent. The area saw some of the heaviest fighting on the battlefield. Over the last 162 years since the battle, this area has transformed from grass and forbdominated glades, to open-canopy woodland, to closed-canopy forest. It is our goal to begin the process of helping restore the area back to the native cedar glade ecosystem.

National Public Land’s Day participants should wear clothes they do not mind getting dirty. For safety reasons and due to the nature of the work, clothing should include long pants, long-sleeve shirt and closed toed boots or shoes, NO open toed shoes. Participants are asked to bring a water bottle as a water cooler will be provided. The park will provide all necessary tools and personal protective equipment, but if a participant wants to bring their own set of gloves or protective eye-wear, they may do so.

In commemoration of National Public Lands Day entrance fees to National Park Service units will be waived. This includes Point Park on top of Lookout Mountain, allowing free entrance Saturday, September 27, 2025.

National Public Lands Day began in 1994 and is organized each year by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). NPLD promotes the connection between people and the environment by inviting everyone to get outside. NPLD brings together hundreds of thousands of individual and organizational volunteers to help restore the country’s public lands. These are the places Americans use for outdoor recreation, education, and just plain enjoyment. These lands encompass national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, forests, grasslands, marine sanctuaries, lakes, and reservoirs, as well as state, county, and city parks that are managed by public agencies, but that belong to and are enjoyed by all of us.