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

Great Mound (Butler County)

Madison Township · Butler County · Southwest Ohio
The tallest mound in the county, a natural lookout
National Register of Historic PlacesLargest mound in Butler County

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
Verified entrance or visitor center
Published coordinates

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 huge Adena mound on a ridge west of Middletown that may have been a signal tower.

Height
43 feet as first measured in the 1800s; erosion and digging have lowered it (one account says about 34 feet today)
Circumference
511 feet at the base
Volume
Nearly 825,000 cubic feet of earth
Setting
On a ridgeline, so the summit has a long view
Disturbed
In 1879 locals removed part of the summit; only about 75 percent is undisturbed
Listed
National Register of Historic Places, 1971

The story

The Great Mound stands on the east side of Wayne-Madison Road in Madison Township, west of Middletown. Built by the Adena, it was measured in the 1800s at 43 feet high and 511 feet around, with nearly 825,000 cubic feet of earth, making it the largest mound in Butler County and one of the largest in southwestern Ohio. Because it stands on a ridgeline, anyone on top can see a long way. (One list gives its height as 88 feet, which conflicts with the other sources, and one account says erosion and farming have lowered it to about 34 feet.)

It has not been left alone. In 1879 locals dug off part of the summit and found bones and the remains of fires, and later digging destroyed more of the top, so only about 75 percent of the mound is undisturbed. Its size is thought to reflect the stability of the culture that built it and the devotion of its members to those buried in it.

Related sites

The Mound That Talked Across the Valley

In the late nineteenth century, scholars noticed something about the big mounds of southwestern Ohio: they stand on ridges, high enough to see one another. The theory took shape that they were built as observation posts, with fires lit on top to send signals across long distances, a chain of beacons across the valley.

The Great Mound of Butler County was the test case. In 1990, three groups of volunteers put the idea to the test. After climbing the Great Mound, the first group established visual contact with the Hill-Kinder Mound in Franklin.

Behind the legend

The 1990 test showed that the mounds could see one another and that a message could plausibly be carried between them. It did not prove that the Adena did it. Burial and ceremony are still the standard explanation for these mounds, and the signal-tower idea is a theory that has survived because the geometry works.

The mound's own condition is a reminder of how much has been lost: an 1879 dig, later damage, and a height figure that varies from source to source.

If you go

Look at the mound from Wayne-Madison Road and notice how the ground falls away on the ridge. If you are in the area, pair the visit with Miamisburg Mound, about 13 miles east.

Visiting

Status
Roadside landmark
Managed by
Check locally
Hours
On the east side of Wayne-Madison Road west of Middletown; view it from the road and confirm access before you go.
Admission
Free (verify locally)
Please note
Respect private property and stay off the mound.
Directions

Parks nearby

Hueston Woods State Park
About 15 miles · A lodge, cabins and lake near Oxford, with a huge old-growth beech-maple forest.
Open

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