Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
Nearly 2000 years ago, Native Americans built dozens of monumental mounds and earthen enclosures in southern Ohio. These earthwork complexes were ceremonial landscapes used for feasts, funerals, rituals, and rites of passage associated with a Native American religious movement that swept over half the continent for almost 400 years. Come walk among the earthworks and experience the past.
About 1 hours from Columbus and 1.5 hours from Cincinnati by car.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
There are no entrance fees at any of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park's sites. All open park units are free to enter and enjoy from sunrise to sunset, every day of the year. There is no admission fee to enter the park's visitor center.
Hours
| Park Grounds | Daily · Sunrise to Sunset |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and January the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- Mound City Group Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
The only visitor center among all open sites of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park is at Mound City Group. Except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the visitor center maintains regular Hours of Operation on a daily basis.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- Mysteries of the Ancient Architects Film19 Minutes
Another popular choice for visitors is the highly-recommended park orientation film. Mysteries of the Ancient Architects gives viewers an overview of these American Indians and their incredible accomplishments from over 2,000 years ago.
Opens on the Park Service site - Junior Ranger Program at Hopewell Culture NHP30-120 Minutes
The park's Junior Ranger program is a free program to visitors of all ages. Simply visit or call the park and ask a ranger for your booklet so you can get started.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hiking & Exploring Mound City Group20-180 Minutes
Visit the reconstructed earthwork site of the Hopewell culture which dates back to over 2,000 years ago. Walk amongst the mounds and reflect upon the culture's workmanship and ponder about life during a simpler time.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hiking & Exploring Hopeton Earthworks60-180 Minutes
Explore the Hopeton Earthworks site and take in the engineering marvel that these incredible Native Americans accomplished over 2,000 years ago. Visitors will also enjoy the nature that will envelope them during their hike around the complex.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hiking & Exploring Seip Earthworks30-180 Minutes
Seip Earthworks is a marvel of geometric grandeur that was constructed by the Hopewell culture over 2,000 years ago. Today, visitors can take in the magnitude of the site's scale and the Hopewell accomplishments as you can hike in and around the…
Opens on the Park Service site - Hiking & Exploring Hopewell Mound Group45-180 Minutes
The home to the largest Hopewell mound ever constructed and the type-site of the Hopewell culture, Hopewell Mound Group offers visitors a glimpse into the past by showcasing the vastness and size of what these ancient people accomplished.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
On the National Register nearby
- Levi Anderson HouseBuilding · Chillicothe · 3.1 mi
- Oak HillBuilding · Chillicothe · 3.1 mi
- Anthony Walke and Susan Cardinal, HouseBuilding · Chillicothe · 4.6 mi
- Story Mound State MemorialStructure · Chillicothe · 4.7 mi
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Ohio guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Seen this monthEastern Fox Squirrel 2× · Mute Swan 1× · Bobcat 1×Research-grade observations within 25 km, last 30 days, via iNaturalist
Full checklist: 240 birds, 40 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican Kestrel · Bald Eagle · Barn Owl · Barred Owl · Black Vulture · Broad-winged Hawk · Cooper's Hawk · Eastern Screech-Owl · Golden Eagle · Great Horned Owl · Hen Harrier · Long-eared Owl · Merlin · Northern Saw-whet Owl · Osprey · Peregrine Falcon · Red-shouldered Hawk · Red-tailed Hawk · Sharp-shinned Hawk · Short-eared Owl · Turkey Vulture
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican Bittern · American Black Duck · American Coot · American White Pelican · American Wigeon · Black Rail · Black-crowned Night Heron · Black-necked Grebe · Blue Goose · Blue-winged Teal · Bufflehead · Canada Goose · Common Goldeneye · Common Loon · Common Merganser · Common Teal · Double-crested Cormorant · Glossy Ibis · Great Blue Heron · Great Egret · Greater Scaup · Greater White-fronted Goose · Green-backed Heron · Hooded Merganser · Horned Grebe · King Rail · Lesser Scaup · Little Blue Heron · Mute Swan · Northern Pintail · Pied-billed Grebe · Red-breasted Merganser · Red-necked Grebe · Ring-necked Duck · Ruddy Duck · Sandhill Crane · Snowy Egret · Tundra Swan · Virginia Rail · Wood Duck · Yellow Rail
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican Avocet · American Golden Plover · American Woodcock · Black-bellied Plover · Bonaparte's Gull · Buff-breasted Sandpiper · Caspian Tern · Common Tern · Dunlin · European Herring Gull · Forster's Tern · Franklin's Gull · Greater Yellowlegs · Hudsonian Godwit · Killdeer · Laughing Gull · Least Sandpiper · Lesser Yellowlegs · Marbled Godwit · Pectoral Sandpiper · Red-necked Phalarope · Ring-billed Gull · Ruddy Turnstone · Semipalmated Plover · Semipalmated Sandpiper · Short-billed Dowitcher · Solitary Sandpiper · Spotted Sandpiper · Stilt Sandpiper · Upland Sandpiper · White-rumped Sandpiper · Willet · Wilson's Phalarope · Wilson's snipe
Gamebirds & dovesCommon Pheasant · Common Pigeon · Mourning Dove · Northern Bobwhite · Ruffed Grouse · Wild Turkey
WoodpeckersDowny Woodpecker · Hairy Woodpecker · Northern Flicker · Pileated Woodpecker · Red-bellied Woodpecker · Red-headed Woodpecker · Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Hummingbirds & swiftsChimney Swift · Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Also on the checklistAcadian Flycatcher · Alder Flycatcher · American Crow · American Goldfinch · American Pipit · American Redstart · American Robin · American Tree Sparrow · Baltimore Oriole · Barn Swallow · Bell's Vireo · Belted Kingfisher · Bewick's Wren · Black Scoter · Black-and-white Warbler · Black-billed Cuckoo · Black-capped Chickadee · Blue Grosbeak · Blue Jay · Blue-gray Gnatcatcher · Blue-headed Vireo · Bobolink · Brewer's Blackbird · Brown Creeper · Brown Thrasher · Brown-headed Cowbird · Canvasback · Carolina Chickadee · Carolina Wren · Cedar Waxwing · Chipping Sparrow · Chuck-will's-widow · Clay-colored Sparrow · Common Grackle · Common Moorhen · Common Nighthawk · Common Redpoll · Common Starling · Common Yellowthroat · Connecticut Warbler · Dark-eyed Junco · Dickcissel · Eastern Bluebird · Eastern Kingbird · Eastern Meadowlark · Eastern Phoebe · Eastern Towhee · Eastern Wood Pewee · Evening Grosbeak · Field Sparrow · Fox Sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned Kinglet · Golden-winged Warbler · Grasshopper Sparrow · Gray Catbird · Gray-cheeked Thrush · Great Crested Flycatcher · Great Grey Shrike · Harris' Sparrow · Henslow's Sparrow · Hermit Thrush · Horned Lark · House Finch · House Sparrow · House Wren · Indigo Bunting · Lark Sparrow · Least Flycatcher · Lincoln's Sparrow · Loggerhead Shrike · Mallard · Marsh Wren · Northern Cardinal · Northern Goshawk · Northern Mockingbird · Northern Rough-winged Swallow · Northern Shoveler · Olive-sided Flycatcher · Orchard Oriole · Philadelphia Vireo · Pine Siskin · Prothonotary Warbler · Purple Finch · Purple Martin · Red Crossbill · Red-breasted Nuthatch · Red-eyed Vireo · Red-throated Diver · Red-winged Blackbird · Redhead · Rose-breasted Grosbeak · Roughleg · Ruby-crowned Kinglet · Ruff · Rusty Blackbird · Sand Martin · Savannah Sparrow · Scarlet Tanager · Sedge Wren · Snow Bunting · Song Sparrow · Sora · Summer Tanager · Surf Scoter · Swainson's Thrush · Swamp Sparrow · Tree Swallow · Tufted Titmouse · Two-barred Crossbill · Varied Thrush · Veery · Velvet Scoter · Vesper Sparrow · Warbling Vireo · Western Kingbird · Western Meadowlark · Whip-poor-will · White-breasted Nuthatch · White-crowned Sparrow · White-eyed Vireo · White-throated Sparrow · Willow Flycatcher · Winter Wren · Wood Thrush · Yellow-bellied Flycatcher · Yellow-billed Cuckoo · Yellow-breasted Chat · Yellow-throated Vireo
Small mammalsAmerican Beaver · Brown Rat · Cinereus Shrew · Common Muskrat · Deer Mouse · Eastern Chipmunk · Eastern Cottontail · Eastern Fox Squirrel · Eastern Gray Squirrel · Eastern Harvest Mouse · Eastern Mole · House Mouse · Meadow Jumping Mouse · Meadow Vole · Pine Vole · Prairie Vole · Southern Flying Squirrel · Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel · White-footed Deermouse · bee shrew · mole shrew
PredatorsAmerican Mink · Coyote · Cross Fox · Least Weasel · Long-tailed Weasel · Striped Skunk · common raccoon
Hoofed mammalsWhite-tailed Deer
BatsBig Brown Bat · Black Bat · Cluster Bat · Eastern Pipistrelle · Eastern Red Bat · Evening Bat · Hoary Bat · Little Brown Bat · Northern Bat
Also on the checklistGroundhog · Virginia Opossum
Activities
Weather & climate
The park lies in a humid continental zone with a generally temperate climate. Winters are mildly cold with average temperatures around 30 degrees (F). Summers are hot and humid with an average temperature around 75 degrees (F). Average annual total rainfall is just under 38". Snowfall in the winter is generally light with an average total snowfall of less than 24".
Questions people ask
Does Hopewell Culture charge an entrance fee?
No. Hopewell Culture is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
What are the hours at Hopewell Culture?
Standard hours are Sunrise to Sunset, every day.
Source: National Park Service
How busy is Hopewell Culture?
51,969 recreation visits in 2025, number 260 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
Is there cell service at Hopewell Culture?
At the park's reference point, FCC coverage maps show Verizon 5G, AT&T 4G LTE, and T-Mobile 5G. Coverage inside the park varies by location.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
What is the weather like at Hopewell Culture?
The park lies in a humid continental zone with a generally temperate climate. Winters are mildly cold with average temperatures around 30 degrees (F).
Source: Weather & climate
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
More in Ohio
