Leave Clifton village by SR 72 going south 4 miles to Cedarville. Turn right on US 42 and in about 1.4 miles, a log cabin will appear on the right, at the parking area for Indian Mound Park. A walking trail leads across Massie’s Creek, then along the stream and up the hill to the left to reach the large, conical, Adena era Williamson Mound at the peak of the hill.

Also from the parking area, a marked trail heads east to the Hopewell-era earthworks, where walls and gateways enclose the western end of a prominent limestone plateau. In about 600 feet, a series of earthen walls and gateways appear: though densely covered with growth, it is clear when the path rises that you are passing through one of the site’s three major gateways.

On its other three sides, the plateau is surrounded by often dramatic, sheer stone cliffs. Wooded trails lead past rock shelters where many ancient remains have been found, alongside evidence of early 20th century quarrying and abandoned industrial waterworks.

Massie’s Creek enters a narrow gorge just outside Cedarville, Ohio. On a limestone plateau, surrounded by two ancient courses of the river, are a series of earthen walls and gateways. Here, archaeologist Robert Riordan, of Wright State University, has unearthed the story of a hilltop, gated with stone and earth, briefly protected by a high wooden stockade, which was then burned by its builders in a great crescent of fire.

The original Pollock Earthworks as shown in this model enclose the western end of an otherwise sheer-rock plateau surrounded by Massie’s Creek (CERHAS University of Cincinnati).

Lebanon to Pollock

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