Fort McHenry Visit Guide

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

Best primary window for Fort McHenry: May, with April and June as strong shoulder months.

by the dawn's early light, a large red, white and blue banner? Whose broad stripes and bright stars... were so gallantly streaming...over Fort McHenry! The valiant defense of the fort during the Battle of Baltimore on September 13-14, 1814 inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words that became the U.S. national anthem. The fort's history holds many other stories too, from the Civil War to WWII.

This page identifies Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine from the checked-in NPS snapshot, dated source cards, and the month windows listed here.

Targeted Impressions Data TeamData Science & Intelligence

materializedData snapshot: October 27, 20264 source cards

Answer-first planning signal

Best current use

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is listed as a National Monument and Historic Shrine in the checked-in NPS identity snapshot.

Best months

May, April, June

Peak crowd months

July, August, June

Current signal

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is listed as a National Monument and Historic Shrine in MD in the checked-in NPS identity snapshot. 4 source cards on this page. Data snapshot: October 27, 2026. Official NPS page: https://www.nps.gov/fomc/index.htm.

Visitor takeaway

Month windows for Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine are listed on this page. Official NPS page: https://www.nps.gov/fomc/index.htm.

What it sounds like

Fort McHenry audio on this page is a labeled modeled cue, not a field recording.

Summary at a glance

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is listed as a National Monument and Historic Shrine in the checked-in NPS identity snapshot. 4 source cards on this page. Data snapshot: October 27, 2026. Listed month windows: May, April, and June.

Best Months

May

↑ April, June

Budget Months

April

March, May

Peak Crowd

July

August, June

Region

coastal atlantic

Core Experiences

architecture-and-buildingafrican-american-heritageamerican-revolutionarcheologyruinsArts and CultureCraft DemonstrationsCultural DemonstrationsLive MusicTheater

Month-by-month

Month windows on this page: May, April, and June listed as the primary window; July, August, and June listed as peak months; April, March, and May listed as lower-crowd months.

Primary Window

Listed primary window: May, April, and June.

Peak months

Listed peak months: July, August, and June.

Lower-crowd months

Listed lower-crowd months: April, March, and May.

Getting there

Use the closest major airport and a regional drive plan for Fort McHenry.

The park is three miles southeast of the Baltimore Inner Harbor and just off I-95. Follow the brown Fort McHenry directional signs along all major routes to the park. From I-95 northbound, take Exit 55 Key Highway and follow Fort McHenry signs.

SERPRadio Origin Research

Place instrument

Clock, compare, and listen

Compare places

Season and now

Twelve-month planning is modeled from the published seasonal profile. The current hand stays unavailable until sourced alerts, hours, events, roads, and weather are fresh.

Current hand: Not available

Three listening lanes

Official NPS audio: Not provided for this snapshot.

Synthetic browser audio, never a field recording or live observation.

Jamcorder: Shared station.

Text equivalent for the seasonal place clock
Month	Visitability	Crowd pressure
January	49	24
February	53	24
March	60	28
April	63	42
May	64	58
June	62	76
July	59	92
August	60	90
September	61	74
October	61	56
November	58	34
December	52	28

The cue is a browser-generated composition, not a field recording. How NPS Sounds modeled audio works.

Methodology

This page uses the checked-in NPS identity snapshot for Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, the 4 source cards below, and the figures listed above. Data snapshot: October 27, 2026. Read the NPS Sounds methodology and about NPS Sounds for how pages are assembled.

Data snapshot: October 27, 2026
Source cards: 4

Data Behind This Reading

Source provenance

NPS identity

high

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is identified as National Monument and Historic Shrine with NPS code fomc.

Available · Data snapshot: October 27, 2026

Source

Official operations

limited

Official alerts should be verified on the NPS page. This site uses a checked-in snapshot, not a live operations feed.

From the data snapshot · Data snapshot: October 27, 2026

Source

Weather and seasonality

limited

Temperatures and weather in the spring and fall months tend to be mild. Ice, snow, and freezing temperatures can occur during winter. Extreme heat can occur during the summer months. Inclement weather may impact park hours of operation year round. Refer to the park alerts or call ahead to confirm operating hours.

Modeled · Data snapshot: October 27, 2026

Source

How this page is assembled

limited

place page source cards come from the data snapshot October 27, 2026.

Data snapshot: October 27, 2026

Source

Where Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine fits

State, region, and designation hubs that list this place.

More Coastal Atlantic visit guides

Other source-reviewed places in the same region.