This was a must-see on a recent trip to Harper's Ferry over the 4th of July weekend. Planned on spending the better part of a day there. Arrived late morning, to a flurry of activity. Signs posted that the main part of the park closed at 3 p.m. that day. There was a symphony concert planned for that evening and everything was being set up for that. We had a few hours anyway. Entered the Visitor's Center and the projector was not working. Unfortunate, as we have always found these videos to be really informative prior to a visit to the site. There is a wonderful room on the upper level where you can see points of the battlefield, with a talk being done by a park employee. He was wonderful - this is not to be missed. We had brought a picnic lunch along, but - there are no picnic areas at Antietam. So we sat on a bench by the parking lot and ate (just a word to the wise). We decided to tour what we could and started walking the trail to Bloody Lane. There were blankets everywhere in preparation for the evening's event and loud music being played. We walked the trail, and climbed the observation tower. and headed back to the Visitor's Center. We suddenly heard the music again, and the song was "Let the Good Times Roll". Seriously? At a place where that many died in one day? Before visiting the cornfields, I asked if there were any interpreters there that day (by the way it was Saturday, July 2nd). We thoroughly enjoyed them at Gettysburg. I was told that all volunteers would be not available as they were going to work that evening for their concert. We did go to the Cornfield, but time was running out, so the visit was cut short. We were able to visit Burnside Bridge, as that part was not closing. The bridge is under construction, but we could still see the witness tree and walk some of the trails there.
If you can visit the entire park, they recommend a driving tour. I really was expecting to give this an "Excellent" rating, but due to the circumstances, we just couldn't visit the park and spend the time that we wanted to. Unfortunate.