The serpent lies across a dramatic bluff. Both the head and the tail stand atop steep cliffs. Below winds Ohio Brush Creek, through the wide bottom of an ancient crater. On either side of the snake’s body, trails lead down through the forest to the riverbank. From down here, especially in the winter, the undulating shape of the bluff is visible: most prominent is this sharp, head-like formation, directly beneath the serpent’s head.

The serpent’s builders may have understood, from generations of their ancestors, that this unusual formation was already charged with the spiritual powers of serpents: that a giant snake was already embodied in the cliff forms, or slithering out of them.