Wyndham Wisdom

An Ohio Drive

Travel through time in America's heartland

A fall foliage tour of the region around Chillicothe, Ohio, is more than a glorious drive through forests of golden maples and scarlet oaks and hickories. It's also a journey through time, as you find yourself delving into layer after layer of history. In Chillicothe's historic district, lavish Victorian homes and colonnaded municipal buildings evoke the town's past as the first capital of Ohio. Just outside town, you'll find 2,000-year-old Native American earthworks. As you head south and west toward the tiny towns of Bainbridge and West Union, you'll find more examples of these monumental earthworks. In this part of central Ohio, ancient places coexist with simple 19th-century farmhouses and stone cottages built by early settlers.

OHIO'S FIRST CAPITAL
Make Chillicothe your home base for this trip; it has the greatest range of services, from restaurants to lodgings, and easy access to all the area's sights. You can choose to stay in one of the town's B&Bs, making day trips and returning to Chillicothe each night. Or you can extend your trip so you spend a few nights in Chillicothe, then bed down at the rustic Highlands Nature Sanctuary, west of Bainbridge, followed by a stay at luxurious Murphin Ridge Inn, in West Union. Chillicothe has dominated this region since its founding in 1796, when a Virginia land speculator named it after a Shawnee Indian word meaning "principal town." The new burg quickly drew so many residents--including former soldiers who received land in return for service on the side of the Colonies during the American Revolution--that in 1803 it became the capital of the new state of Ohio. By 1816 the town of Columbus had co-opted that honor, but Chillicothe still celebrates its storied past.

History buffs can get their bearings at the Ross County Heritage Center, a complex of historic buildings that includes an 1820s log cabin. A pristine, cream-colored open-style automobile, built in 1906 by a now-defunct local carmaker, dominates the lobby. The guided tour takes you through two floors of exhibits, including a Conestoga wagon used to transport freight to the area back in the frontier days (45 W. Fifth St.; 740-772-1935; rosscountyhistorical.org; $4).

You'll notice that the accent in this part of Ohio is redolent of the South, and the same is true of the food, which is typically down-home Southern-style. Stop by the Old Canal Smokehouse on the north end of the historic district for juicy ribs, brisket, pulled-pork sandwiches and other country favorites. The dark, paneled barroom offers a wide selection of beer on tap, and the small dining rooms with simple wooden furniture make for a cozy family atmosphere.

Northwest of the historic district, you can get a panoramic view of the Scioto River Valley from hilltop Adena Mansion & Gardens. Benjamin Latrobe, the architect of the U.S. Capitol building, completed the Georgian-style house in 1807 for Thomas Worthington, an early Ohio governor. You ascend to the mansion via a winding road flanked by woods, and emerge from this burgundy-and-gold tunnel onto 300 acres of lawns and formal gardens.

During a tour of the house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, you'll see Worthington's original furnishings--a desk (with a secret drawer, a typical security feature of the time), a sideboard, a banquet table and several beds. Two teacups in a kitchen cupboard are a reminder that in the early 1800s this was a rough-and-tumble region, where residents of the new state fought enemies and sought allies. The cups were used to serve tea to the Shawnee chief Tecumseh when he dropped by to parlay with Worthington and make him the gift of a peace pipe (Adena Rd.; 800-319-7248; ohiohistory.org; $8).

North of town is Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. Two thousand years ago, ancient Native Americans constructed its 24 mounds, or artificial hills, each 20-30 feet high, and surrounded the 13-acre site with a four-foot-high, grass-covered wall. Centuries-old trees add brilliant color in the fall.

The Chillicothe site is one of hundreds of similar places built in the Midwest between 200 BC and 500 AD. Its grass-covered earthworks rise from their surroundings with a surprising subtlety, given the size and scope of the changes made upon the natural world. Hundreds of these sites have survived centuries of plowing and development; some are individual mounds, while others are animal forms sculpted into hilltops. Still others are vast geometric complexes of precisely sculpted circles, octagons, squares and free-form shapes; many of these have features that align with important moments in the rising and setting of the moon.

To the amazement of scholars who study them, most of these installations are similar in diameter and circumference, even when they're separated by many miles. The indigenous hunters, gatherers and gardeners who built them left no written language, so no one knows what they called themselves. But scholars have named this ancient culture "Hopewell" after an Ohio landowner on whose property artifacts were found in the 1800s. The site's museum displays the culture's artistry, including stone statuary, pottery, copper jewelry and eerie, translucent sheets of mica cut in the shape of hands (16062 Rte. 104; 740-774-1126; nps.gov/hocu; free). For more information on visiting mounds, go to ancientohiotrail.org.

BAINBRIDGE
Route 50 heads into farmland and forests as it travels southwest out of Chillicothe toward Bainbridge, 20 miles away. You'll pass through an area that was a center of Native American mound-building culture two millennia ago. Most of the way, a flat valley stretches to your left, backed by low mountains. Rolling hills rise up to your right, covered with trees in bright autumn colors. Fourteen miles out of Chillicothe, stop for a look at hulking, flat-topped Seip Mound, in a state park south of the highway. Signs provide historical information on this ancient place (ohiohistory.org).

Six miles later you'll hit the village of Bainbridge (pop. 1,000), where you can pick up four self-guided foliage drives, ranging from 45 minutes to an hour. Before you head out, take a break at the lunch counter of Paxton Restaurant on Main Street, or have the cook pack a picnic of meatloaf sandwiches and pie.

On the four foliage tours, which all start and end in Bainbridge, you'll want to keep both hands on the wheel as you plunge into tiny valleys, wind along creeks and veer up rugged hills. Go to fallfestivalofleaves.com for maps to download and print out, along with notes on historic sites you'll pass along the way: white clapboard churches, a covered bridge and old cemeteries. The site also has information on the town's foliage festival, happening this year October 16-19.

If you have time for only one tour, choose the Paint Vista Loop. It cuts through portions of the 3,200-acre Highlands Nature Sanctuary, with its caves, cliffs, gorges and 14 miles of hiking trails (highlandssanctuary.org).

After your hike, refuel on super-sweet donuts, apple dumplings and pumpkin pie at the Mennonite-owned Country Crust Bakery, three miles south of Bainbridge on Route 41. Or try the yummy salted soft pretzels. Everything's baked on the premises and packed up for you by fresh-faced young ladies in long modest gray or blue dresses.

Across the road, Amish and Mennonite farmers park their horse-drawn buggies outside JR's General Store, where they load up on bags of flour, sugar and other bulk goods. Check out old-fashioned treats like root beer candy and locally made elderberry, peach and raspberry jams, apple butter, pickles and relishes. You can also buy the wide-brimmed straw hats worn by Amish and Mennonite men; colorful, flouncy pinafores and matching bonnets for little girls; and wooden birdhouses, tables and rocking chairs.

LOCUST GROVE & WEST UNION
Serpent Mound, 20 miles south of Bainbridge, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Go south on Route 41 to the hamlet of Locust Grove, turn right (west) on Route 73 and follow signs to the 1,000-year-old mound (it's technically in Peebles, though you won't pass through the town). Serpent Mound is an effigy, or figure, sculpted into a hilltop that overlooks miles of gently rolling farmland. Climb the 25-foot tower to view the snake's four-foot-high, quarter-mile-long body, whose mouth appears to be swallowing an egg-shaped object. To get a closer look, follow the footpath around the figure (ohiohistory.org; parking $7).

Make time for dinner at Murphin Ridge Inn, where the sophisticated cuisine is made with ingredients from the restaurant's organic herb and vegetable garden. Dishes are updates of old-time favorites, such as ancho-accented pork roast and fruit crisp topped with cinnamon-dusted vanilla ice cream. The top-notch dining room packs picnic lunches for inn guests only, so if you sleep here the night before seeing Serpent Mound, you can have an exceptional breakfast, then enjoy more goodies while contemplating the snake.

Like other ancient constructions in the area, the Serpent has astronomical significance. The head points to the summer solstice sunset, while certain coils point to other solar and lunar events. We don't know exactly what the site's ancient builders had in mind, but we can guess that they encoded celestial movements in their constructions to make sure all was right between heaven and earth--an objective that's as appealing today as it was 2,000 years ago.

EAT

OLD CANAL SMOKEHOUSE
94 E. Water St., Chillicothe;
740-779-3278; dinner for two, $50*

PAXTON RESTAURANT
108 W. Main St., Bainbridge;
740-634-2922; lunch for two, $25

COUNTRY CRUST BAKERY
4918 Rte. 41 S.; Bainbridge; no phone

MURPHIN RIDGE INN
750 Murphin Ridge Rd., West Union;
937-544-2263; dinner for two, $90

*Prices cover a meal for two, not including
drinks, tax or tip.

STAY

RCI-AFFILIATED RESORTS IN CENTRAL OHIO INCLUDE:

APPLE VALLEY RESORT
Howard, OH

For more information,
visit RCI.com or call
Weeks: 800-338-7777
Points: 877-968-7476

NOTE: Information may have changed since publication. Please confirm key details before planning your trip.