Thursday

7:30 pm. Welcome & Orientation; The Spectacular Cultural Achievements of the Hopewell Phenomenon. A visual presentation at the Appalachian Forest Museum.

Friday

9:30 am - 4:00 pm:  Caravan from Appalachian Forest Museum to Fort Hill. Bring a packed lunch to eat on top of the hill. We will begin the day by ascending the Fort Trail to the preserve’s ridgegtop earthworks where we will look at the Fort’s numerous gateways that line the steep bluffs. A side trip will investigate Fort Hill’s signature vernal pool. After exploring the flat ancient ceremonial space of the mesa-like ridgetop, we will then descend onto the Gorge Trail, where we will walk through the geologically scenic and botanically rich region of Baker’s Fork Gorge. If the weather is kind to us this week, we should be immersed with bouquets of early spring wildflowers, including Dutchman’s breeches, harbinger of spring, adder’s tongue, wild leeks, spring beauties, and hepatica. Fort Hill has one of the richest wildflower showcases in all of Ohio, and beyond.

7:30 pm. Beyond Hopewell - Ohio’s Moundbuilding Legacies. A visual presentation at the Appalachian Forest Museum.

Saturday

9:30 am - 3:30 pm:  Caravan from Appalachian Forest Museum to Spruce Hill. Bring a packed lunch to eat on top of the hill. We will start the field trip hiking uphill on an old access lane before stepping off and trekking through Spruce Hill backcountry looking at early spring ephemeral and herbaceous perennial displays along steep forested slopes below the hilltop. We will slowly work our way up to one of the hilltop enclosure gateways. From there we will follow along ancient stone wall remnants until we reach a vista view of the Paint Creek Valley for lunch. We will continue on toward the main “Isthmus” gateway, where we will enter the open hilltop meadows within the enclosure, and head to a wooded vernal pool. We will make our way back to the parking lot through the remainder of the open hilltop meadows and back down the old access lane we started on

Depart for home.