Day Twelve
On my way to Serpent Mounds, I passed a beagle walking down the side of a 55 mph two-lane highway. He gave me a dirty look that implied that I had no business driving down his road. Ten miles further I drove by two more beagles, and one of them gave me the same look.
The gate to Serpent Mounds was locked, so I parked by the street and walked up to the site. It is a long set of earthworks shaped like a snake. I circumnavigated around the entire site. Unfortunately the viewing tower was closed because it is no longer safe.
9/21/2025
Maysville, KY to Bedford, PA
418 Miles
My last stop for the day was at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Avella, PA. It is a very important archaeological site where artifacts dating back over 16,000 years have been found. The guide gave an interesting lecture about the site, which was followed by a video presentation with interviews with the local farmer that discovered the site and the archaeologist that excavated and studied the site. It was well worth the time to get there and the cost of entry.
Medowcroft
Hopeton Earthworks
Zane Landing Park
Serpent Mounds
I stopped in a coffee shop in Wakerly, OH. The girl who served me was very nice; the espresso was not.
I visited two Hopewell sites in Chillicothe, OH. The first site was the Mound City Group, which is a large set of earthworks consisting of in excess of twenty burial mounds surrounded by an earthen wall. After spending about half an hour walking the site, I headed to the Hopeton Earthworks. It is quite large but not very interesting.
