Ingles Open Road at Ocmulgee Mounds
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I’m Chris Bainbridge… inviting you to take a ride with me. This is an amazing place to find adventure in all shapes and sizes. Ingles has sent me on a mission to bring you the very best of what our beautiful home has to offer – food, fun, nature, music, and more… all affordable, and all out of the ordinary. This is The Ingles Open Road.
Just minutes from the center of downtown Macon, Georgia, is a place untouched by modern development, yet shaped by 17 millennia of continuous human habitation. And today, we’re taking a few minutes to explore thousands of years of history. This is Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park.
From the prehistoric civilizations that inhabited this area, to the arrival of the European settlers, to the Civil War battles fought on this land, the rich history of this place emanates from its surroundings, making it a must-see on your next trip to Macon.
In 1933, the largest archaeological dig in American history started right here. Over the course of the next three years, scientists and workers would uncover 2.5 million artifacts, providing an illuminating and unprecedented perspective of the many civilizations that have called the Macon Plateau home.
The Paleo Indian people were the first on the scene here around 17,000 BC – that’s about 15,000 years before the pyramids. As the Ice Age gave way to warmer climates, the Paleoindians would adapt and give rise to many cultures that would later call this plateau home.
As millennia passed by you can envision villages forming, farming taking hold, and the construction of earthen burial mounds and platform mounds – enormous feats of construction that we still marvel at today.
This was a thriving civilization that accomplished monumental things – not just the circular earthen lodges, elaborate platform mounds, and enormous earthen temples – but also complex economic, political, and religious systems. Today 8 miles of trails wind through hundreds of acres awaiting your exploration, complete with a cell phone tour to guide your walk. And the visitor center houses the museum with over 2,000 artifacts.
What better way to explore history than to get out and walk around in it? You can learn more and plan your visit at nps.gov/ocmu. Come to Macon… and come to Ocmulgee… and get ready for a great time. Your weekend is waiting… on the Ingles Open Road.
