America's 25th UNESCO World Heritage Site, plus Hocking Hills sandstone
On September 19, 2023, eight Hopewell earthwork complexes across southern and central Ohio became the state's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and America's 25th; built roughly 2,000 years ago, in geometry so precise the Octagon at Newark encodes the moon's full 18.6-year cycle. KVTA Newark-Heath puts you within five miles of both the Great Circle, 1,200 feet across with walls still rising overhead, and the Octagon itself, open to full public access since January 2025 after a century under a golf course. Southeast to KLHQ Lancaster for Hocking Hills State Park, where Old Man's Cave and Ash Cave are carved into Black Hand sandstone laid down 350 million years ago. Southwest to KILN Wilmington, the journey's leg toward Serpent Mound: 1,348 feet of coiled effigy, the largest serpent mound in the world, built by either the Adena or the Fort Ancient culture; the argument is part of the visit. Indigenous Ohio in earth and stone.