Field Notes Ohio

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117 parks in 7 regions

Fort Hill State Memorial

Sinking Spring · Highland County · Southern Ohio

A hilltop wall of earth and stone above Ohio Brush Creek

State Memorial and nature preserveHopewell hilltop enclosure

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
Approximate location

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A great enclosing wall on a wooded summit, with a nature preserve's trails around it.

Wall: 8,619 feet long, 6 to 15 feet high and about 30 feet wide at the base
Enclosed: About 35.3 acres, over 1.5 miles around, with 39 openings
Setting: A summit about 500 feet above Ohio Brush Creek and 800 feet above the Ohio River
Built by: The Hopewell people
Managed: Owned by the Ohio History Connection and managed with the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System
Distance: About 16 miles north of Serpent Mound

The story

Fort Hill crowns a hilltop about 500 feet above Ohio Brush Creek, and the Hopewell people enclosed it with a wall of earth and stone about a mile and a half around. The wall stands 6 to 15 feet high and about 30 feet wide at its base, and it has 39 openings, 36 of them verified as made by the builders. Like Fort Ancient, its name suggests a defensive fort, but it is thought to have been a ceremonial place.

Today it is a state memorial and nature preserve, with hiking trails through the woods and along the walls.

Related sites

The Wall on the Hill

Walking the top of Fort Hill feels like walking around a castle that never had a roof. The wall runs through the forest for a mile and a half, with gaps where you would expect gates, and the ground drops away on every side. Locals have long called it the Fort, and for generations people assumed it was built to keep enemies out.

The Hopewell who built it left the openings on purpose.

Behind the legend

The Fort Hill enclosure is documented in the Ohio History Connection's material and in Squier and Davis's survey: 39 openings, of which 36 are verified as made by the builders and three of unknown origin. Like Fort Ancient, it is a hilltop enclosure and it is not proven to have been defensive.

The Serpent Mound is 16 miles south, and the two sites are often visited together.

If you go

Hike the wall and the woods trails on a clear day, and combine the visit with Serpent Mound.