Fort Ancient is not a fort in the military sense, and it is not as old as its name might suggest. It is a huge earthwork built by the Hopewell people about two thousand years ago on a bluff above the Little Miami River, in the Ohio hill country between Cincinnati and Dayton. Its walls run for roughly three and a half miles, and they enclose about a hundred acres of high ground. Gaps in the walls, called gateways, appear to align with the movement of the sun and moon, which suggests a ceremonial rather than a defensive purpose.
Walking the walls gives you a sense of the scale. They are low earth embankments, in places still twenty feet high, and they follow the contours of the cliff edge with a curve that looks quite natural. The site is run by the Ohio History Connection and has a museum with a good display about the Hopewell and the later Fort Ancient culture, who lived in the area about a thousand years ago. In 2023 it joined Mound City and other earthworks on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The forest around it is beech and maple with a few gorges, and in spring the woodland floor has a scattering of wildflowers.
The ride into this part of southwest Ohio is a gentle one. Road 350, which runs along the escarpment, gives good rolling views, and the Little Miami Scenic Trail follows the river for those who want to stretch out on a bicycle. The countryside here is farmland, with brick barns and creeks lined with sycamores, and a fair number of curves where the road dips toward the river. In autumn it is a pretty run, and traffic is light on weekdays.
Lebanon, the nearest town of any size, has about twenty thousand people and the facilities that come with it, including fuel, diners and antique shops. Its historic downtown has the Golden Lamb, an inn that claims to be the oldest continuously operating hotel in Ohio, and a stop for lunch there is a good excuse. Morrow, nearer to the site, is smaller but has fuel and a few small places to eat.
Visit in the morning, when the light is low over the earthworks and there are few other people. The park has hours that vary by season, so check before you go.