Where the Hopewell builders wanted to impress, they built big, and the Great Circle at Heath is the proof. The enclosure is a ring of earth about three hundred and sixty metres across, with walls that still rise to around four metres, inside a ditch that makes them look even taller. It is the largest circular earthwork in the Americas that survives, and standing at the entrance, you see the bank curve away into the trees on both sides. Nobody knows how many baskets of soil it took, but it must have been millions.
In the middle sits a low mound shaped like a bird, known as Eagle Mound, which seems to have been a focus for ceremony. The ditch inside the wall is a puzzle: it is on the inside, which is odd for a defensive work, and so it suggests that the purpose was not defence but a sacred space. Celebrations, burials and gatherings might have taken place within the ring, and the surrounding landscape was probably covered in open woodland and prairie.
Like the Octagon a few kilometres north, the Great Circle spent much of the last two centuries in unusual hands. It was a county fairground for a time, which explains some of the damage, and the Ohio History Connection manages it now. A path leads around and across the ring, with signs that explain its history. The grass is mowed, the paths are easy, and there are benches under old trees in the shade.
The roads here are plain but pleasant. From Heath and Newark, quiet streets lead to the site, and the countryside beyond is rolling farmland with small woods and creeks. The nearby town of Granville, about eight kilometres east, has a pretty main street and a college, and the old Welsh Hills just beyond have some curving roads in the autumn colour. Fuel and food are available in Heath, Newark and Granville, and a short stop in the park makes a satisfying quiet end to a day of riding.