Looking for something to do in the National Park System in November and December? Check out this listing of activities, with events scheduled from Andersonville National Historic Site to Yoemite National Park.
California
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Nov 29 – Nov 30, Holiday Sale
Save 15%- 75% on all store items (except handcrafted products) – a unique selection of books, apparel, toys, and more. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=21008
Dec 6, Birds of Winter
Join park staff for an easy 1-mile stroll through the grounds and bring your binoculars and bird book. You'll be looking for birds that have traveled to the NRA area to spend winter in its moderate climate. Meet inside visitor center. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=17471
Dec 7, Satwiwa Winter Solstice Art Show & Sale
Turn out for a day of handcrafted art, music, storytelling and family fun. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=20315
Nov 6 – Dec 4, Vintner’s Holidays
Celebrate winemakers’ fall harvests with enlightening wine tastings and seminars, a small private reception to meet winemakers in person, and a five-course gala dinner where each course is prepared to complement the often rare or limited-release wines. http://www.yosemitepark.com/vintners-holidays.aspx
Colorado
Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site
Dec 6, Holiday Celebration
Living history holiday festivities such as taffy pull, music, wagon rides, piñata break and toymaking take place as they did in the 1840s. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=9766
Georgia
Andersonville National Historic Site
Nov 15, Night Museum.
From 6 p.m.- 9 p.m., the National Prisoner of War Museum will be open for a rare nighttime opportunity to view the exhibits and experience the prison site. Special programs will be presented, and living history volunteers will be at the reconstructed northeast corner of the prison site, portraying the often-overlooked winter period of the prison in 1864-65. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=15379
Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park
Dec 20, “I Present to you… a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah.”
Join a park ranger for a talk about the fall of the city of Savannah to the Armies of General William T. Sherman, 150 years ago. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=21366
Dec 5 – Dec 6, Holiday Open House at the Cravens House.
The Cravens house will be decorated in a manner very similar to the Civil War era. House tours will be conducted every 30 minutes. Reservations required. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=14062
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
Dec 6, Late Autumn Full Moon Campfire and Night Hikes.
What better way to spend a late autumn evening than a campfire, guided hikes, and full moon overhead. Roast marshmallows over an open fire, drink delicious “ranger recipe hot apple cider,” and walk along a forest trail. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=20331
Dec 13, End of Autumn Sunset Walk.
Travel above rock cliffs, through mature oak/hickory forest, mesic ravine forest, and floodplain forest. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=20334
Fort Pulaski National Monument
Nov 29
Fort Pulaski will commemorate the 152nd anniversary of the Grand Thanksgiving Fete and Festival of 1862 on Saturday, November 29. The event will recreate the field day offered by the 48th New York Infantry to celebrate their first Thanksgiving in Fort Pulaski. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=9286
Dec 19 & 20, Candle Lantern 2014.
Fort Pulaski National Monument will commemorate the 153rd anniversary of the Confederate Nog Party of 1861. The long-lived Savannah tradition will continue this year with nighttime tours of the historic fort by candlelight and oil lamps to include hot cider, cookies, music, caroling, and historic weapons firing. Don’t miss this historic way to celebrate the holidays. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=20553
Jimmy Carter National Historic Site
Dec 7, 2014 Plains Community Christmas Sing.
The evening will be filled with presentations from local church choirs and will conclude with a performance by the Georgia Southwestern State University Chamber Singers. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=20544
Dec 6, Christmas Guided Night Walk.
Christmas-themed night walk with lanterns to the Great Temple Mound and back. One milk round trip. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=20648
Kentucky
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Dec 12, A Taste of Christmas Past.
In the ever-hastening holiday hustle across the nation, shopping carts are filled with electronic games, gadgets, and gallantry, while streams of shoppers rush about, buying with a vengeance. But in the smoky, snow-covered mountains of Appalachia the memories of Christmas past still linger, reminding us of what this season was like long ago! Old and young alike are invited to join in this special morning and enjoy gingerbread, sugar cookies, and hot chocolate. Make a craft, which you can share with loved ones on Christmas morning. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=10672
Nov 11, Veterans Day Weekend – Free Mammoth Passage Tours.
Limited to 50 people; visitors must picked up their free tickets at the visitor center prior to departure times. Mammoth Passage is a ¾-mile, 1 ¼ hour cave tour and requires a walk down and up the hill below the visitor center, as well as 68 steps at the Historic Entrance. \http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=8725
Maryland
Dec 13, Museums by Candlelight.
Monocacy National Battlefield will join with other historic sites in Frederick County in a holiday program for all ages. Enjoy the sights and sounds of the holiday season on the battlefield. View traditional period decorations and create a special keepsake ornament at the historic Thomas House. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=16105
Montana
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Dec 7, Victorian Holiday Open House.
Bring the whole family out to see the elegant Kohrs family ranch house decorated for the holidays. There will also be horse-drawn wagon rides, roasting marshmallows over the bonfire, iron candy canes given out at the blacksmith shop, holiday crafts for kids of all ages, pinecone birdfeeder making, refreshments, and of course Santa will be making an appearance. There is no fee, however we do ask visitors to bring a food donation item for the Deer Lodge Food Pantry. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=3429
Nebraska
Scotts Bluff National Monument
Dec 6, Christmas on the Prairie.
The annual Christmas on the Prairie event will give visitors and opportunity to make holiday ornaments similar to the ones that graced the homesteads of the 19th century. Rangers and volunteers will be dressed in period clothing and along with live music and seasonal refreshments, will complete the old time atmosphere. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=9014
New Mexico
Dec 20-21, Winter Solstice Sunset Observation.
The ancestral Pueblo people incorporated many solar markers into their architecture. These alignments were used to mark important ceremonial events and possibly their agricultural calendar. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=20958
Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Dec 21, Winter Solstice Sunrise.
Join Ranger Cornucopia at Kin Kletso to view a winter solstice marker. Park gates will open at 6 am. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=528
New York
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site
Dec 6, Winter Celebration.
Enjoy Lindenwald decorated by the Kinderhook Garden Club. Plan to visit Saturady after from 12 p.m.-4 pm. Guided tour only beginning at the top and bottom of each hour. Reservations required. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=5165
Saint Paul’s Church National Historic Site
Dec 4, Holiday Opera.
A performance of arias and duets from classic operas, along with seasonal carols and traditional favorites by acclaimed Bronx Opera Company. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=22848
Dec 13, Holiday Music and the Holiday of Christmas.
Join the staff for a 2 p.m. performance of holiday music, featuring harp, French horn, trombone, and voice. Arrive early for a presentation about the historical development of Christmas as a holiday in America. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=22843
North Carolina
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site
Nov 29 & Dec 27, Christmas at Connemara.
Join the staff on the Saturday mornings after Thanksgiving and Christmas to revel with local musicians and storytellers. Music/storytelling will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the garage adjacent to the Sandburg Home. Hot cider and cookies will be served. Holiday craft-making will be offered in the bookstore from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Music and craft-making is free, there is a small fee to tour the Sandburg Home. The house will be decorated in the simple style of the Sandburgs with poinsettias and a traditionally decorated Christmas tree from Thanksgiving until January 6th, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=8253
Oregon
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Dec 13, Christmas at Fort Vancouver.
Experience the sights and sounds of the 1800s holiday season at Fort Vancouver. Visitors will be able to view and participate in activities undertaken by residents at the fort during the holiday season. Enjoy wreath making, holiday beverages, caroling, and more. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=11298
Pennsylvania
Eisenhower National Historic Site
Dec 1-31, An Eisenhower Christmas.
Celebrate Christmas in the tradition of Gettysburg's First Family at the Eisenhower National Historic Site December 1 through 31. The Eisenhowers' home is decorated as it was during their presidential years in the 1950s: poinsettias, boughs of pine and holly, a tree surrounded by presents, and the dining room table set for Christmas dinner with the Eisenhower Wedgwood china and silver. In the living room, park rangers regale visitors with tales of Eisenhower Christmas' past while holiday music from the Eisenhowers' album collection provides background accompaniment. Original Eisenhower decorations are on display in the home and Eisenhower Christmas cards are on exhibit in the Reception Center. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=9246
Independence National Historic Park
Saturday/Sundays in November, The First Americans.
Join a park ranger for an informative program about the role of Native Americans before, during and after the American Revolutionary War. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=24352
South Carolina
Ninety Six National Historic Site
Dec 6, Holidays and Harvests.
Discover how colonists spend the fall and winter months at the Black Swan Tavern/Logan Log House. Colonists were busy preparing for the fall harvest and preserving foodstuff for the winter. Find out if and how holidays were enjoyed. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=19226
Texas
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park
Dec 6, Timeless Christmas.
National rark rangers will provide an open house of the historic homes, all decked out for Christmas celebrations in the 1920s and the 1860s from 6-9 p.m. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=16210
Virginia
Booker T Washington National Monument
Dec 6, “An Old Virginia Christmas of 1864” special event.
Christmas of 1864 was Booker T Washington’s last spent in slavery. This year’s Living History program concludes the Civil War 150th Commemoration of Washington’s childhood in slavery during Christmas. A continuing story interpreted on candlelight tours at the park since 2009. Enjoy warm gingerbread and hot apple cider after the tour. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/event-listing.htm?eventID=21819
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