Why this ride
A 122 km round trip from Chillicothe - roughly 2 h 13 in the saddle. On the way it passes High Bank Works, Seip Earthworks and back through High Bank Works.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hopewell Mound Group and Seip Earthworks
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 122 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 13
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hopewell Mound Group
Among the fields of the Paint Creek valley in southern Ohio, a few kilometres from Chillicothe, lies a patchwork of low grassy ridges that once formed one of the largest earthwork enclosures in North America. The Hopewell Mound Group is the site that gave its name to the whole Hopewell culture, which flourished in the Ohio valley from about 200 BC to AD 500. It was named after Mordecai Cloud Hopewell, on whose farm it stood in the nineteenth century. The enclosure originally surrounded about a hundred hectares, with walls and many mounds, and archaeologists have found rich deposits of ceremonial objects within.
Read the complete Hopewell Mound Group write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hopewell Mound Group is where the day begins. Next is High Bank Works.
2. High Bank Works
Most people expect an ancient monument to be made of stone. High Bank Works is made of earth, and it asks you to do a little more of the work yourself. It sits in the Scioto Valley a few miles south of Chillicothe, Ohio, on flat bottomland that looks like any other farm field until you notice the low grassy banks drawing a perfect circle joined to a perfect octagon. The Hopewell people raised these walls roughly two thousand years ago, with baskets of soil, no draft animals and no metal tools.
Read the complete High Bank Works write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
High Bank Works comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Seip Earthworks.
3. Seip Earthworks
The Hopewell people built in earth the way others build in stone. About two thousand years ago, in the valleys of southern Ohio, they raised enormous banks, circles, squares and octagons, some enclosing many hectares, and aligned them to the sun and moon. Seip Earthworks, in the valley of Paint Creek in Ross County, is part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which were inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2023, and the group also includes the Octagon Earthworks at Newark and the High Bank Works near Chillicothe. They were not forts or farms, but meeting places for gatherings, feasts and funerals.
Read the complete Seip Earthworks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Seip Earthworks. Next is back through High Bank Works.
4. back through High Bank Works
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete High Bank Works write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through High Bank Works, late in the day. Next is Hopewell Mound Group.
5. Hopewell Mound Group
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hopewell Mound Group write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Hopewell Mound Group. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hopewell Mound Group to High Bank Works
Hopewell Mound Group → High Bank Works is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High Bank Works to Seip Earthworks
High Bank Works → Seip Earthworks is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seip Earthworks to back through High Bank Works
Seip Earthworks → back through High Bank Works is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through High Bank Works to Hopewell Mound Group
back through High Bank Works → Hopewell Mound Group is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.