One of our favorite things about visiting the National Park sites is the incredible amount of history that we learn along the way. Neither of us would be considered history buffs, but we both find it interesting to learn everything that happened in the past to make America what it is today. There are 419 sites in the National Parks System. Many of these focus on history. The National Park System does an amazing job bringing the stories of the past alive today. It certainly is the case at the Tuskegee National Park Sites.

The Tuskegee national parks do an amazing job of humanizing history and telling the story of the men and women who learned, served, and taught here. We recently went on an epic Southern U.S. road trip and we spent an afternoon at the two parks located here. We had a blast learning and exploring.

Tuskegee, Alabama is located in central Alabama right off of I-85. It is about 45 minutes from the Georgia line. Tuskegee has two National Park Sites – Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site and Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site. Both of these sites do an amazing job of explaining the importance of what happened here not just to African-Americans but the world as a whole.

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

The first of the Tuskegee National Parks is the Tuskegee Airmen site. Tuskegee Airmen is located just off I-85. This site celebrates the brave heroes who made up the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen were pilots during World War II. The term Tuskegee Airmen also refers to everyone who helped the various units – nurses, cooks, navigators, mechanics and others. The Airmen are credited with 1578 combat missions and 179 bomber escorts. The Airmen received 96 Flying Crosses, 14 Bronze Stars and 8 Purple Hearts. Simply incredible. The National Historic Site does such a great job of explaining the importance of these men and women. We really learned a ton and had a blast doing it.

There is a really large parking area on a hill overlooking historic Moton Field and the hangars below. This is where the Tuskegee Airmen trained. There is a nice open area where we ate a picnic lunch before we headed down the path. (No picnic tables but lots of benches and open areas!) The path to the hangars has numerous exhibits to learn as you go. When you get to the bottom there are a bunch of historic buildings, but you can only enter a few of them. You can go into Hangar 1, Hangar 2, and the adjoining Control Tower.

Hangar 1

Hangar 1 talks about the training that happened here and has three main sections. The first section is the orientation room. When you head down the path from the parking lot the signs tell you start here. There is a short orientation video in the room and you can grab a Junior Ranger book to start off. The next room has a couple of beautiful airplanes that have been refurbished. They are incredible. They have a bunch of other exhibits as well. The third part of the hangar are the various rooms that you can go in and out off. These are war rooms, offices, and diners that have been set up to show what it looked like.

Hangar 2 and Tower

Hangar 2 is the larger museum on property and spends more time talking about the Airmen during the war. There is an incredible Red Tail airplane hanging from the ceiling. They have a ton of really great exhibits here. These exhibits are awesome because they do such a great job of telling personal stories. You really get a feel for the men and women who served. There is a good video to watch here as well. It is almost half an hour, but you learn a ton. Hangar 2 is where the gift shop is. This is where you can grab your passport stamp as well. Take some time to climb the tower. From the top you get a really great view of the whole airfield.

Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site

The second of the Tuskegee National Parks is the Tuskegee Institute. The Tuskegee Institute site is located about 10 minutes from the airfield in the town of Tuskegee. The Institute was founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington and others. This is still an actual college. We went over Christmas break and we had pretty much the whole place to ourselves. We were excited about going here because we have been to Booker T. Washington in Virginia. It is cool to see how all of the National Parks Sites connect to each other.

There are two main areas of this park. The Oaks, which was the home of Booker T. Washington and the George Washington Carver museum. You can also see the burial places of both Washington and Carver.

We spent most of our time looking at the Carver museum. The museum is in the building that used to be Carver’s lab. The park visitor center is here and there is a little gift shop. The museum is incredible. He did so much for so many. It was crazy to see how the man’s brain worked. He was a genius for sure. He didn’t invent peanut butter, though a lot of people think so, but he invented just about everything else. We spent about an hour and half there and we felt we got a really good overview. Main reason for this is the Junior Ranger book. You get a really good overview of most parks just by doing that.

Takeaways From Tuskegee

All around the Tuskegee sites were great. It is not a destination but a good place to spend an afternoon as part of a larger road trip. We all walked away with so much appreciation and a better understanding of this special place in history. There isn’t a ton in the town, though it looks like there is a push to see it restored. Make sure to take some time to tour around the downtown area a bit. The Macon County Court House was a beautiful building right in the middle of town, so don’t miss that! We loved our time learning about history and gaining a better understanding of the people who made this part of Alabama famous.

Have you ever been to the Tuskegee National Parks? What are some of the other smaller parks that we should visit?

If you are interested in visiting more National Parks check out our guides to Booker T Washing National Monument, The National Parks of the Outer Banks, Fort McHenry in Baltimore or Mammoth Cave in Kentucky!

Pin it for Later!