Exploring a World Heritage Site Along Ohio’s Paint Creek Recreational Trail
While the Paint Creek Recreational Trail offers a delightful experience, winding nearly 35 miles through some of the most beautiful rural scenery in southern Ohio, it also provides a connection to something found nowhere else in the state: a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
About an hour south of Columbus, the trail begins in Chillicothe, where it passes through the Hopewell Mound Group, the site of ceremonial and sacred burial grounds for the Hopewell Culture more than 2,000 years ago. The Hopewell Mound Group is the largest of eight enclosed earthworks collectively known as the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which is one of only 26 designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in the country.
One of the best ways to include this trailside stop on your journey is to start from the parking lot of the Hopewell Mound Group (4731 Sulphur Lick Road, Chillicothe) and pick up the Paint Creek Recreational Trail from there. Though only a few remnants are still visible at the site, visitors will find an earthen wall stretching about 2 miles that encloses 29 burial mounds and buildings once used for religious rituals and ceremonies. Signage at an elevated lookout spot about a half-mile from the parking lot provides educational information about this hallowed place. A 2.5-mile interpretive trail also allows for further exploration and learning.
The people of the Hopewell Culture built the earthworks in geometrical shapes that align with the movements of the sun and moon in locations that span the entire state. The building process at these sites is estimated to have taken decades, or even centuries, using stone tools and extensive coordinated labor.
From the Hopewell Mound Group, the paved rail-trail follows the former B&O Railroad route through farmland, wooded corridors and small towns like Austin (at the halfway point), where you can stop for a rest and a bite to eat. The pathway, also known as the Triangle Trail, ends at the uniquely named city of Washington Court House.
It’s also worth the 10-minute drive to the main visitor center for the Hopewell Cultural National Historical Park, located on the site of the Mound City Group earthworks complex. The 25 mounds you’ll see there are some of the best-preserved examples of earthworks created by the Hopewell Culture. Within these mounds, archaeologists have discovered obsidian spear points, carved bones, effigy pipes and ornaments made from copper mined some 600 miles away, and a collection of these artifacts is on display at the visitors center. You can also join a free, daily ranger-led tour around the site.
More learning opportunities are available at two other nearby earthworks sites: the Hopeton Earthworks in Chillicothe and the Seip Earthworks in Bainbridge.
This article was originally published in the Fall 2024 issue of Rails to Trails magazine and has been reposted here in an edited format. Subscribe to read more articles about remarkable trails while also supporting our work.
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