Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park
A fifty-foot platform mound and surrounding earthworks preserve a Swift Creek–Weeden Island ceremonial center built roughly 1,100 to 1,800 years ago.
Artwork inspired by Hermann Herzog
Letchworth-Love is most revealing when its towering platform mound is placed in time. Built by Swift Creek–Weeden Island communities during the Middle Woodland period, it demonstrates that coordinated monumental construction flourished in the region centuries before the Mississippian centers that often dominate public understanding of mound building.
Use the protected boardwalk and viewing area to study the main mound without reducing the complex to a single dramatic peak. Lower earthworks and former plaza relationships broaden the picture, though only part of the site is readily visible. Staying off the slopes protects both fragile soil and the archaeological sequence held within it.
- Height
- About fifty feet
- Period
- Swift Creek–Weeden Island
- Admission
- $3 per vehicle
Quick guide
- Core distinction
- This mound predates the Mississippian period.
- Best view
- Use the protected boardwalk and interpretive platform.
Explore further
- Place it in time
- Separate Middle Woodland construction from later Mississippian centers.
- Use the boardwalk
- Protected boardwalk viewpoints preserve the mound slope and buried archaeological deposits.
- Scan the ground
- Lower mounds and plaza relationships extend beyond the dominant peak.
- Leave no trace
- Do not climb, dig, or remove pottery from any part of the site.
Good to know
The main mound is intentionally not a summit attraction. Restricted climbing protects both fragile soil and the archaeological sequences inside it.