Like New Yorkers who have never been to the Statue of Liberty and D.C. denizens who rarely visit the capital’s monuments and museums, legions of Jefferson County residents never see Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. It’s one of the most diverse parks in the system, with museums and exhibits on American industrial history, the civil rights movement, and the Civil War. It’s also a remarkable place for getting outside, taking full advantage of its location beneath two ridges and at the confluence of two great rivers.

Over the last few years, new land and trails have been added to the park. Each preserves a different piece of the region’s history. And they offer different views of the scenic northern Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge. Here are two picturesque spots that may be new even for regular visitors to Harpers Ferry.

Murphy Farm Trail

This short walk through a long, open field leads to a magnificent vista of the Shenandoah River. The farm was once home of John Brown’s Fort, the armory building occupied by Brown in Harpers Ferry’s lower town. Sensing the armory’s history, the Murphy family had saved it from demolition after the Civil War by dismantling and moving it to their farm.

In 1906 Storer College in Bolivar hosted a meeting of the Niagara Movement, founded by W.E.B. Du Bois. It was the group’s second meeting, and its first meeting on American soil. Their first meeting had been hastily moved across the Niagara River into Canada the previous year because no hotel in Buffalo, where the group had planned to meet, would have the delegation. The Storer College meeting is often called the beginning of the modern civil rights era. Niagara Movement members helped launch the NAACP a few years later.

If you want to walk in the footsteps of history, take a hike from the park’s visitor center on U.S. 340 to Murphy Farm and the fort site. During the 1906 meeting, Niagara delegates walked in procession from Storer College to the fort—many in bare feet as a show of respect. In the annals of civil rights, Murphy Farm is sacred ground.

And the hike is lovely. It’s a two-mile round trip stroll, with the added bonus of a rest stop at one of the finest views of the Shenandoah River.

Park at the Harpers Ferry NHP visitor center, where there are restrooms, a bookstore and interpretive programs. You can also reach the farm from the KOA Campground on Route 340.

Jackson’s Right Flank

From this position, Stonewall Jackson outmaneuvered Federal forces to secure a Confederate victory in an 1862 battle. You can learn about it here, but you don’t have know anything about the Civil War to appreciate the beauty of the meadows, hedgerows, and rolling hills. Every bend in the mowed path is a delight.

Take an hour or so to walk the paths one morning or late afternoon—like the Murphy Farm Loop there is not a lot of tree cover to avoid the summer sun. There are, however, plenty of picnic-worthy trees offering up shade enough for a little blanket time and maybe a wee nap.

From U.S. 340 turn onto Millville Road, Route 27, and look for the trailhead sign on the right.