Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: October 7, 2023
This National Historic Park was recently recommended as a World Heritage Site, the first in Ohio and the 25th in the USA. The prehistoric Hopewell Culture lived in the Ohio River Valley from 200 BCE to CE 500. The culture constructed earthen mounds of various shapes and enclosures offering insight as to how the people lived. Five separate locations of mounds and earthworks make up the National Historic Park.
Behind the small visitor center at the Mound City Group, we walked a half mile around the former ceremonial center viewing many of the 23 remaining mounds. A low earthen embankment (Photo#2) encloses the dense concentration of mounds. Rosie called this the most boring national park she has ever been to.
A few miles away we stopped at a second site called the Hopewell Mound Group. It contained 40 mounds. The bike trail from Chillicothe to Washington Court House runs by here so we hope to return and bike 15 or 20 miles of it.
