Serpent Mound summer solstice celebration returns with Appalachian theme

Adams County’s most distinctive summer outing returns to the Great Serpent Mound this month, where the sunset line at the effigy passes through the open jaws and across the oval just as Friends of Serpent Mound turns the Peebles landmark into a three-day stop for families, history fans and first-time visitors. The 17th annual Summer Solstice Celebration will center on Appalachian Food and Culture at Soaring Eagle Retreat, 351 Horner Chapel Road, with music, education and hands-on activities built around one of Ohio’s best-known Indigenous heritage sites.

The celebration is scheduled for Friday, June 19, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., then Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Parking at Soaring Eagle Retreat will be free, while parking at the Serpent Mound park will cost $8. The two properties border each other on the east side of the park, and visitors can make the short walk on the Buckeye Trail during park hours. Ohio History Connection says the park will be closed on Juneteenth, will open Saturday, June 20, from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and will be open Sunday, June 21, from noon to 5 p.m. The site’s visitor center will be open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Ohio History Connection says drones are prohibited and there is no trespassing when gates are closed.

Friends of Serpent Mound executive director Delsey Wilson will open the weekend after a family memorial tree dedication with a presentation on family traditions, healing and superstitions. The schedule also includes a youth patch program for Scouts, homeschoolers, youth groups and families, capped at 100 registrants and priced at $2 per child. Beyond that, the weekend will feature lectures, workshops, tours, hands-on activities and music ranging from Indigenous traditions to Appalachian fiddle, dulcimer, drumming and Americana acts.

Friends of Serpent Mound says it has hosted events since 2004 and created the Summer Solstice Celebration as one of its solstice-related programs. The group says the festival is meant to highlight local history, heritage, ecology, sustainability, traditional skills, arts and crafts, and Native and Indigenous-made wares. Ohio History Connection describes Serpent Mound as an internationally known National Historic Landmark built by American Indian cultures of Ohio and says it is the world’s largest and finest serpent effigy mound, now on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage consideration as part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks nomination.

For visitors who want even more context, Ohio History Connection will offer archaeology tours at Serpent Mound on the second and fourth Fridays of the 2026 season, starting at 1:30 p.m. at the visitor center and lasting 1.5 hours. The site’s age and builders remain debated, with estimates ranging from the Early Woodland period around 300 BC to a Late Precontact date around AD 1100, but the solstice weekend keeps the focus on what the earthwork means now: a living link between Adams County, Indigenous heritage and a summer tradition that still pulls people to the hill above Brush Creek.