As the author of “Follow the Blue Blazes: A Guide to Hiking Ohio’s Buckeye Trail,” I would like to express my appreciation to previous reviewers on this website. As these reviewers pointed out so eloquently, the site known as Serpent Mound is a realistic and powerful expression of a Native American people that existed almost 1000 Years ago.

For myself, who has returned to Serpent Mound many times over the years, I still experience an emotional feeling of wonderment and a reverential connection with the past. The lifelike serpent could be ready to engulf an egg or as one Native American explained: "the Snake Clan is actually being led by the Turtle Clan" (Cry of the Ancients by Little Pigeon).

Visitors to the site should also take the path down to Ohio Brush Creek that begins to the right and near the serpents head. Wildflower enthusiasts will enjoy the seasonal native plants along the walk. The walk will also show how fragile is the site, for the supporting rock is eroded and pitted with deep crevasses or caves. Also, the front of the cliff reveals a simulacrum (an image in the cliff) loosely resembling a serpents head. Perhaps this is the reason for the people of what we refer to now as the Fort Ancient Culture to build their effigy on this spot.

Another reason given for the site selection is that is on an uplift of a 10-mile wide bowl in the surrounding landscape. This huge depression was thought to have been created by a prehistoric meteorite.

I hope all who read these reviews will try to visit this amazing site in Adams County. The site has been nominated for World Heritage status with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). You will also see the Blue Blazes of Ohio’s 1400-mile Buckeye Trail and the national North Country Trail’s blue blazes, found on the trees between the serpent and the gate.