At Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park you can walk around the base of the tallest and most complex ceremonial mound in Florida. There are four mounds in the complex, with the tallest 46 feet high. The mounds are from the Woodland Period circa A.D. 500. The site was first mentioned in 1939 in the article “Spanish Mission Sites in Florida” by historian Mark F. Boyd as the “Miccosukee Mound,” since Lake Miccosukee is nearby.
The first archeological surveys of the site were done in 1998 and 2001 before park facilities were constructed. The lack of artifacts on Mound 1 led archeologists to propose that it was a plaza or temple complex. It contains the equivalent of 5.5 million five-gallon buckets of dirt, and was built entirely by hand by peoples of the Weedon Island culture. There is a ramp on the north side and platforms on the east and west sides.
Resources
Overview
Location: Monticello
Length: 0.3 mile
Lat-Long: 30.520600, -83.991400
Type: round-trip, paved and boardwalk
Fees / Permits: none
Good for: archeology, wheelchairs
Difficulty: Easy
Bug factor: Low
Restroom: Yes
There is a privy on site and picnic tables.
Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park website
Directions
Follow US 90 west from Monticello. Look for signs on the left. Turn left on Sunray Road and follow the road to the park entrance.
Hike
The Letchworth Mound Trail is a short paved interpretive trail – about a 0.3 mile round-trip – out and back through the mound complex from the parking area. Mound 1 is the whopping big mound that the trail circles, with an observation platform at the far end. It is a sacred place and should not be climbed. Mound 2 is off the trail out of sight and is 66’x82’ and 3’ high. Mound 3 is a conical shape, about 33’ in diameter, and is less than 3’ tall. It’s just north of Mound 1. Mound 4 is about the same size and shape and is just past the observation deck.
A longer loop continues off the paved trail into the sandhills and back to the parking area. Watch for signs.