From the vicinity of the South Overlook, enter the nearby woods to reach perhaps Fort Ancient’s most spectacular feature: the grand South Gate.

All three of the major gates have similar features: a pair of mounds, together with ramps passing through a large gap in the walls. Like the Great Gateway, the South Gate opening was made higher by bringing the walls up, as if mounds were added to the top of the wall, although here it is of a much more massive scale.

A ramp bridges across the interior water-ditch. A stone pavement originally stretched all the way down the steep hillside to the river, suggesting grand processions: pilgrims, after a long journey, arriving by canoe, then climbing and entering the sacred enclosure; through the wall, past the mounds, and across the water.