Williamson Mound, Ohio
Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 4:23 pm
While driving through Ohio, I decided to take a break from the boring Interstate freeway and hop on a back road through farmland. To my great surprise, I happened upon Indian Mound Reserve.
I first heard about these ancient Indian mounds on an episode of Nero Wolfe. But I had never seen one in person. Curious things, they are thought to be Native American burial or lookout sites. This one was called Williamson Mound, and seeing it would only cost me a one-mile hike.
I followed a dirt road to the single-track split. The road continues to a private drive and house. The trail goes through a pleasant forest beside a stream.
I met a couple of locals who told me about a second trail that visits a gorge, but I had no time for that. Soon I was at the mound, which sported a staircase to the top.
The mound was probably much more prominent two thousand years ago, but erosion has worn it down to about thirty or forty feet high. They believe Hopewell natives built this mound using rocks and mud from the nearby creek. Archaeologists have apparently determined that it was used for a burial site.
I first heard about these ancient Indian mounds on an episode of Nero Wolfe. But I had never seen one in person. Curious things, they are thought to be Native American burial or lookout sites. This one was called Williamson Mound, and seeing it would only cost me a one-mile hike.
I followed a dirt road to the single-track split. The road continues to a private drive and house. The trail goes through a pleasant forest beside a stream.
I met a couple of locals who told me about a second trail that visits a gorge, but I had no time for that. Soon I was at the mound, which sported a staircase to the top.
The mound was probably much more prominent two thousand years ago, but erosion has worn it down to about thirty or forty feet high. They believe Hopewell natives built this mound using rocks and mud from the nearby creek. Archaeologists have apparently determined that it was used for a burial site.