Visiting Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in southern Ohio feels like stepping back 2,000 years. The monumental mounds and geometric earthworks preserved here are unlike anything else on earth. This remarkable place was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.

Located near Chillicothe, Hopewell Culture preserves six ancient ceremonial sites. Nowhere else in the world are so many of these complexes clustered so close together. This region was a cultural center of eastern North America two millennia ago. I explored it with my friend Lisa during a 2.5 day fall road trip to visit lesser-known National Park Service sites in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Mound City at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

Visitor Center and Orientation

For our visit we went to the Mound City Group. Start at the Visitor Center where exhibits explain the engineering marvel of the Hopewell culture. They used materials gathered from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada to construct massive earthworks.

Mound City Group

The Mound City Group is the heart of the park and one of the earliest Hopewell earthworks. This 15-acre site once had the highest density of mounds.  There are 24 mounds within 13 acres. Today 22 remain. You can see the outline of Mound 15, one of the missing. It’s believed this Hopewell culture site was used for social, religious, and burial purposes.

We followed a ranger’s suggestion to walk the one-mile nature trail.  It loops around the mounds, passes through shady woods, and ends at the Scioto River.  That’s where you can learn about the Hopeton Earthworks across the river if you don’t have time to visit both. No burials have been found there. It’s a geometric complex with a great circle, adjoining rectangle, and parallel walls nearly a half-mile long. If you have time, walk the 1.1-mile trail at Hopeton for sweeping views of the earthworks. From the river stop at Mound City, we walked back through the mounds, careful not to walk on them. Even on a hot afternoon, you get a moment to reflect on the scale of this ancient ceremonial center of the Hopewell culture.

Don’t miss Mound Three. It’s an unusual elliptical mound situated between two circular ones. It stretches 140 feet and contained four burials, including one surrounded by hundreds of broken flint spearheads.

Hopewell Legacy

The Hopewell culture thrived between 200 BCE and 500 CE, leaving behind intricate mounds and earthworks that continue to puzzle and inspire. Their ceremonial complexes show advanced knowledge of geometry, astronomy, and engineering. Exploring the trails and mounds at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park offers both a quiet walk in nature and a deeper connection to America’s ancient past.

Visiting Info:

• Visitor Center: 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

• Mound City Group: Dawn to dusk, 2.5 miles of interpretive trails

• Hopeton Earthworks: Dawn to dusk, 1.1-mile trail with overlook