Field NotesOhio
Upper Falls in the Old Man's Cave gorge, Hocking Hills, with visitors on the rocks

An independent field guide · 365 places

The field guide to outdoor Ohio

Parks and forests, ancient mounds, caves, waterfalls and back roads, with the story behind each place and where to eat and fuel up nearby.
Popular:
  • 117parks & forests
  • 64ancient mounds
  • 34waterfalls
  • 40historic sites
  • 33road trips

Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills · Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

Explore by type

What are you in the mood for?

See every place →
State parks & forests117 places, with cabins, campsites and trails117 places Waterfalls34 falls, with trail notes34 falls Mounds & earthworks64 ancient sites, from Serpent Mound to Newark64 ancient sites Caves & caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters12 caves Lake Erie beaches20 public beaches, Conneaut to Toledo20 beaches Historic sites40 places, from the frontier to the Civil War40 places Road trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail33 drives Oddities19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops19 roadside stops The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile loop, all 26 sections1,444 miles

New to the guide?

Six places to start

One from every corner of the state, each with its full story inside.

01Old Man's CaveHocking Hills · SoutheastA gorge of waterfalls and recess caves where a hermit is said to have lived, with the park's visitor center. 02Great Serpent MoundAdams County · SouthwestA gigantic earthen snake on a hilltop over Ohio Brush Creek, built by a people whose name is still argued over. 03Brandywine FallsCuyahoga Valley · NortheastThe tallest waterfall in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, reached by an easy boardwalk with an accessible upper overlook. 04Marblehead LighthouseMarblehead · Lake ErieThe oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, lit since 1821, on nine acres of limestone shoreline. 05Zoar VillageTuscarawas County · EasternA well-preserved communal village founded by German separatists in 1817, on the Ohio & Erie Canal. 06Longaberger Basket BuildingNewark · CentralA seven-story office building shaped like a picnic basket, with handles that are heated in winter.

Plan a trip

Open the mapAll 365 places on one map. Filter by cabins, campsites, hunting, beaches and more.Explore the map → Browse by countyPick any of Ohio's 88 counties and see its parks, mounds, waterfalls and historic sites.Find your county → Build a tripSave places as you browse, then line them up into a weekend. Kept in your browser, nothing to sign up for.Start a trip →

Explore Ohio

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

Lake ErieWest Virginia36 places368 places813 places135 places523 places2321 places2124 places2416 places1613 places134 places418 places182 places217 places1710 places1014 places142 places27 places76 places613 places133 places34 places414 places143 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places22 places22 places26 places64 places4

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

Parks, forests & wildlife areas

Find a park

117 parks in 7 regions

Orators Mound (Glen Helen)

Yellow Springs · Greene County · Southwest Ohio
The mound where Webster and Clay both spoke
National Register of Historic PlacesIn Glen Helen Nature Preserve
Directions →Official source →

A small burial mound in a woodland glen that became a speaker's stand in the 1840 election.

Size
About 15 meters (49 feet) across and about 5 feet tall, on about an acre
Built
Started as a constructed limestone core capped with earth
Excavated
Several times in the 20th century, including 1953; burials and grave goods point to the Adena, though the affiliation is disputed
Setting
On a rise just uphill from the Yellow Spring, between Birch Creek and Yellow Springs Creek, along the Inman Trail
Named for
A speakers' platform: Daniel Webster and Henry Clay are said to have spoken from it in 1840
Preserve
Glen Helen, about 1,000 acres and 25 miles of trails

The story

Orators Mound sits in Glen Helen Nature Preserve, on the ridge just above the Yellow Spring that gave Yellow Springs its name. Because of the spring, the spot was plainly known throughout much of prehistory. When it was excavated during the 1900s, the mound turned out to have been built over a limestone core and capped with earth, and it held disarticulated burials and grave goods, which is why archaeologists usually call it Adena, though its cultural affiliation is disputed and some sources call it Hopewell. In 1908, 41 different earthworks were known in Greene County.

The mound is about five feet tall now, in second-growth woods along the Inman Trail. Locals are known to have added earth to it after settlement, so its present size may not be its original one. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Related sites

Visiting information you can trust

Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Verified entrance or visitor center
Published coordinates
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
Tickets or admission info

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.

The Platform Where Webster and Clay Spoke

During the 1840 presidential campaign, Yellow Springs was a place where politicians came to talk. The tale is that on a single summer afternoon two of the most famous speakers in America, Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, both stood on this little mound and addressed a great audience. The settlers had built a small platform on the top for the occasion, and the mound has been called Orators Mound ever since.

It is a strange thing to think about: a burial mound that had held the dead for two thousand years turned into a stage for stump speeches.

Behind the legend

The name is documented, and it is reflected in the National Register listing, which says the mound is named for its common use as a speaker's platform. The story of Webster and Clay speaking on the same afternoon comes from an early county history quoted in Wikipedia. The mound's age and builders are less certain: most sources say Adena, one Glen Helen source says Hopewell.

Glen Helen itself is part of a chain of protected land, joined with John Bryan State Park and Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve into a river corridor of over 2,000 acres.

If you go

Walk the Inman Trail to the mound and then down to the Yellow Spring, which gave the town its name. Then go on to John Bryan State Park and Clifton Gorge for the Blue Hole legend.

Visiting

Status
Reached by trail
Managed by
Glen Helen Ecology Institute (Antioch College)
Hours
The mound is on the Inman Trail in Glen Helen. Check Glen Helen for trail hours and any fees.
Admission
Check Glen Helen
Phone
937-769-1902
Please note
Stay on the trail and off the mound.
Official information →Directions

Parks nearby

John Bryan State Park
About 3 miles · Clifton Gorge, the Little Miami and the Blue Hole legend, next door to Glen Helen.
Open

Buckeye Trail

Caesar Creek Section
55 miles · the Buckeye Trail passes this site
Open

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

Know a place that belongs here, or spotted something out of date? Email hello@fieldnotesohio.com.