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 →

Plan 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

Wolf Plains Group

The Plains · Athens County · Southeast Ohio
Once 30 earthworks; now three mounds you can see
National Register of Historic PlacesThird-largest Adena mound complex

A field of mounds on a Hocking Valley terrace, mostly lost to the town that grew up over them.

Originally
About 30 earthworks, including 22 conical mounds and nine circular enclosures
Setting
A flat terrace in the Hocking River valley, formed by glacial outwash
Rank
Said to be the third-largest Adena mound complex, after Chillicothe and Charleston, West Virginia
Visible today
Only about three mounds remain visible
Land
Mostly privately owned; one mound is cared for by the Athens County Historical Society
Documented
In Squier and Davis's 1848 Ancient Monuments

The story

The Plains, originally known as Wolf's Plains, sits a few miles northwest of Athens on a flat terrace left by glacial outwash in the Hocking River valley. The Adena, or perhaps the early Hopewell, built about 30 earthworks here: 22 conical mounds and nine circular enclosures. Squier and Davis featured the group in their 1848 book, working from a sketch made by S. P. Hildreth in 1836, and their finished drawing has inaccuracies: some clusters are rotated, some are missing, some misplaced.

Most of the mounds have disappeared under farms and the growing community of The Plains, and only about three remain visible. In 1989 one mound was gifted to the Athens County Historical Society, which promised to keep it as it was, and in 2008 the Archaeological Conservancy bought the site of the Dorr 2 Mound with emergency funds. Most of what survives is privately owned and vulnerable to development.

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.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Use the listed address for directions; treat the map pin as a general area.
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 Mounds Under The Plains

Athens is a college town, and local historians say awareness of the mounds in The Plains is low, though it is described as the third-largest Adena mound complex after Chillicothe and Charleston, West Virginia. There were once 22 conical mounds here and nine circular enclosures. Farmers plowed, developers built, and by now only a handful remain.

The ones that are left get a small band of volunteers, the Friends of the Adena Mound Group, who gather in spring to clear sticks and invasive multiflora rose from the mound the historical society looks after.

Behind the legend

The 'third largest' ranking comes from local tour material and the Southeast Ohio History Center. What is documented is the loss: the site was mapped in 1848 with about 30 earthworks, the Archaeological Conservancy bought one mound site in 2008, and most of what remains sits on private land with little legal protection. Recent radiocarbon dating suggests that the group is early Hopewell rather than Late Adena.

If you want to see it, go with a group.

If you go

Check the Southeast Ohio History Center in Athens for its mound tours, and ask about the Friends of the Adena Mound Group. Then drive the Plains roads and look at the flat terrace the mounds stood on.

Visiting

Status
Mostly private land
Managed by
Athens County Historical Society & Museum (one mound); other sites private
Hours
Most of the mounds are on private property. The Southeast Ohio History Center offers occasional tours.
Admission
Varies by tour
Please note
Respect private property; look from the road.

Directions use an approximate map pin. Check the official site for the entrance.

Official information →Directions

Parks nearby

Strouds Run State Park
About 6 miles · A lake park just outside Athens with hiking and mountain biking.
Open
Burr Oak State Park
About 12 miles · A lodge, cabins and campground on a big lake.
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.