River Raisin National Battlefield Park: An RV Traveler's Guide

River Raisin National Battlefield Park preserves the ground at Frenchtown where the January 1813 battles of the War of 1812 were fought. Kentucky militia drove British and allied Native forces out of the settlement on January 18; four days later a pre-dawn counterattack under Colonel Henry Procter broke the American line. Of roughly 934 soldiers engaged, thirty-three escaped.

Wounded prisoners left behind at Frenchtown were killed in the days that followed, and “Remember the Raisin!” became the cry American troops carried to the Battle of the Thames that October. The National Park Service began operating the site in October 2010, and it remains the only national battlefield park marking a War of 1812 site.

A visit is compact and largely outdoors. The visitor center on North Dixie Highway carries the exhibits and orientation, while a paved, accessible six-tenths-mile Battlefield Loop Trail crosses the ground itself past interpretive markers. A one-mile wood-chip Mason Run Loop adds a quieter walk. Two hours covers the site without hurrying.

Access is unusually kind to a rig: I-75 exit 15, then a short run north on Dixie Highway to a lot set up for buses and RVs, though a call ahead is wise on event days. Sterling State Park lies off the same interchange with a modern lakeside campground, and the River Raisin Heritage Trail links the two on foot or by bike.