PLOT SUMMARY: On the outskirts of Cartersville you’ll find this historic site, rich with Native American history. Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site includes six large, earthen mounds covered in grass and accessible by large wooden staircases. From the tops of these mounds, visitors can look out over the 54-acre site and view area farmland and the adjacent Etowah River. It is considered the “most intact Mississippian Culture site in the Southeast”. There is a short trail that runs along the river and through a wooded area surrounding the mounds. The visitor center includes a museum with a short film and a number artifacts found at the site.
Beginning around 1000 AD, Etowah was a Native American chiefdom; a political and religious center with a highly-structured social order.
Just outside the visitors center, you’ll find a reconstructed wattle and daub house similar to those believed to have been on the site between 1250 and 1325 AD. Archeologists designed the structure in partnership with Native American cultural advisor Tim Thompson.
Researchers believe the arrival of Europeans, including DeSoto who visited Etowah around 1540 AD, may have led to Etowah’s occupants leaving the site and moving downriver after 1550 AD.
By the time the Etowah River Valley saw its first European settlers, the local Cherokee Indians attributed the mounds to an ancient people remembered only in their oral traditions.” – Etowah Indian Mounds site signage
Click here for CURRENT PARK ALERTS to review before you visit.
HOURS: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Outdoor mounds area closes at 4:30 p.m.
ADMISSION: $2 Children under 6/ $4 Youth/ $6 Adult/ $5 Seniors 62+
PHONE: 770-387-3747
ADDRESS: 813 Indian Mounds Road SE, Cartersville, GA 30120
PET FRIENDLINESS: Leashed pets are allowed on historic site trails, but not in buildings
Gift Shop
Picnic Tables
ACCESSIBILITY:
From the parking lot, you will cross a wooden bridge to dirt paths that lead to various mounds, the Etowah River, and a wooded trail. Expect to hear the loud sound of crickets as you walk next to tall, native grasses. The mounds are only accessible by steep, wooden staircases.
PLOT YOUR NEXT MOVE: https://gastateparks.org/EtowahIndianMounds
