Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.
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The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop around Ohio, with all 26 sections.
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Mounds & Earthworks43 ancient sites, including the Great Serpent Mound and the Newark Earthworks.
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Historic Sites39 places, from Fort Steuben and Zoar to Camp Chase and the Rankin House, from the frontier to the Civil War.
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Road Trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail.
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Lake Erie Beaches20 public beaches from Conneaut to Toledo and the islands, with a map.
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Oddities & Roadside Attractions19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops, plus a Mothman just over the line.
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Caves & Caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters, with a map.
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Waterfalls34 falls from the Cuyahoga Valley to the Hocking Hills, with trail notes and a map.
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Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Lake ErieWest Virginia27 places277 places77 places73 places35 places519 places1913 places1319 places1916 places168 places810 places1010 places109 places98 places820 places204 places43 places3Barkcamp State Park4 places47 places77 places76 places69 places917 places173 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places2Forked Run State Park3 places32 places26 places610 places103 places32 places2

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117 parks in 7 regions

Carl Potter Mound

Mechanicsburg · Champaign County · West-Central Ohio
A low burial mound on a ridge in a pasture
National Register of Historic Places

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Location confidence
Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Use the listed address for directions; treat the map pin as a general area.

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

A worn-down burial mound in a Champaign County pasture.

Also called
Hodge Mound II
Setting
On a small ridge in a pasture in southeastern Union Township, near Mechanicsburg
Condition
Very low because of past farming
Found
Human remains and a grooved stone axe in the late 1930s, with more burials likely still unexcavated
Viewing
Reported to be visible from State Route 56
Listed
National Register of Historic Places, 1974

The story

The Carl Potter Mound, also known as Hodge Mound II, is a burial mound on a small ridge in a pasture in southeastern Union Township, near Mechanicsburg. Farming has left it very low. Investigations in the late 1930s found human remains and a grooved stone axe inside, which suggests more burials are still there. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 as a potential archaeological site because of its use as a burial mound.

Related sites

The Axe in the Mound

Not every mound is a giant. This one has been plowed and grazed down until it is barely a swell in a pasture. But when it was probed in the late 1930s, it gave up human remains and a stone axe, grooved so a handle could be tied on.

The people who buried their dead here are still in the ground.

Behind the legend

The finds are documented in the National Register description. Nothing more was excavated. The mound's age and culture are not firmly established in the sources.

If you go

View the mound from State Route 56 and respect the pasture.

Visiting

Status
Roadside view
Managed by
Private pasture
Hours
The mound sits in a pasture east of State Route 56 and can be seen from the road; it is not open to the public.
Please note
Please stay on the road and do not enter the pasture.

Parks nearby

Buck Creek State Park
About 12 miles · A big lake park on Springfield's edge.
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.