Ross County and Hopewellian Ohio — All seven of the public parks of the World Heritage “Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks” have free events during Ohio’s “World Heritage Week” next week.
I asked Melody Young, director of the Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitors Bureau, about the annual celebration that focuses on the biggest anticipated local tourism development in decades.
From the official news release: “‘Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks’ is the collective name for eight works of monumental landscape architecture built by American Indians between 1,600 and 2,000 years ago in central and southern Ohio. Five of the earthworks sites are managed by the National Park Service, and three are managed by the Ohio History Connection.”
Hear Young describe the upcoming events in the below video interview, as well as discuss other spring happenings, highlighted in my side story. The four Ross County parks have events Monday through Thursday, April 14th through the 17th.
Young noted that the World Heritage listing was accomplished in September of 2023, and there has been a definite rise in visitation since then. There have not been too many international visitors yet, but there is much more international web traffic…as plans continue for a huge anticipated rise in tourism.
Young pointed out that planned developments in Chillicothe’s Yoctangee Park include a “regional welcome center” with exhibits for all eight Hopewell sites in Ohio, including the three outside of Ross County.
The Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitors Bureau has a website, Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Instagram page.
The eight parts of the “Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks” are managed by two institutions.
The National Park Service has Hopewell Culture National Historical Park around Chillicothe, which includes:
- Mound City Group (headquarters)
- Hopewell Mound Group
- Seip Earthworks
- High Bank Earthworks
- Hopeton Earthworks (not open to the public)
The Ohio History Connection has, in Newark and Heath:
- Great Circle Earthworks (and the Wright Square)
- Octagon Earthworks
…and near Oregonia northwest of Cincinnati, Fort Ancient Earthworks.
Learn about the HCE (Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks) on their website. Find next week’s schedule of events there. They also have a Facebook page, with a Facebook Event.
The National Park Service has a website on their five units of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ross County, as well as the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in general. A good starting point is their map page. (One earthwork which is not open to the public, and anther is managed by another institution). Especially find many posts about World Heritage Week events on their Facebook page.
The Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society) has a webpage on their two sites, the Newark Works and Fort Ancient. They also have a listing of World Heritage Week events.
You can also learn more on the “Ancient Ohio Trail” website.
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are on the “World Heritage List” of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) which “includes 1,223 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value…These include 952 cultural, 231 natural and 40 mixed properties in 168 [cooperating nations and states].”
The official news release for Ohio’s World Heritage Week 2025. (Download the pdf for clickable links.)
