The Ocmulgee Heritage Trail
450 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Open daily | 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
This expanding trail system, begun in 1996 and a
boon to walkers, bikers, runners, and rollerbladers,
is just over 13 miles long and follows the east bank
of the Ocmulgee River through Jackson Springs Park,
Spring Street Landing, under the Otis Redding Bridge,
and into Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park via the
Walnut Creek connection (aka the Mike Ford Trail). A section of
the OHT also runs along the west side of the Ocmulgee River
through Carolyn Crayton Park, Gateway Park, and Rotary Park,
then into Riverside Cemetery. There are several playgrounds
along the east bank trail, including one at Spring Street.
Both a local and national treasure,
this park is a prehistoric indigenous
site where Native American cultures
thrived over the last 12,000 years.
The site on the east bank of the
Ocmulgee River remains sacred
as the ancestral homeland of the
Muscogee people, many of whom
return annually each September
for the Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration, a weekend of
Native traditional dancing, fancy dancing, storytelling, and
cultural demonstrations that includes many different tribes
and nations. Visitors to Ocmulgee Mounds are awed by the
ancient earthworks, including the Great Temple Mound, which
offers a compelling view of Downtown Macon, and a council
house reconstructed over an original clay floor more than
10 centuries old. The park offers an excellent museum, eight
miles of hiking trails, the area's best fall birding (at Clay Pond),
and a wealth of wildlife.
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park
1207 Emery Hwy
www.nps.gov/ocmu | @ocmulgeemoundsnps
@ocmulgeemoundsassociation
Open daily | 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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