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Directions for Kincaid Mounds in Massac County, Illinois
To visit Kincaid Mounds, take the Unionville Road east from Route 45 at the north edge of Brookport. Go 6.25 miles (through Unionville) to the New Cut Road, then south on New Cut Road for 3.6 miles to the Kincaid Mounds Road. Drive east on the Kincaid Mounds Road for .6 of a mile to the observation and interpretation platform. When visiting the interpretive site try to imagine the tremendous activity that occurred on this plaza and surrounding mounds and villages on green corn ceremony day nearly a thousand years ago! Perhaps some day volunteers will reenact this and other ceremonies at Kincaid.
GPS Coordinates are:
37° 4’47.10″N
°29’25.53″W
After leaving the observation area, one can proceed east along the road. You will soon enter the woods at the Pope County line. Keep looking on the left side of the road for additional privately owned mounds in the wooded area. The last notable mounds has the remains of an old house on it. At this point turn around and retrace your route back west or continue on to the town of New Liberty where you can continue on to Golconda or return to Brookport. (see map)
The Kincaid Mounds State Archeological Site consists of 105 acres of the west half of the Kincaid site. It is owned by the Illinois State Historic Preservation Agency while the eastern part in Pope County is privately owned. The public owned mounds have been cleared of trees and are visible to visitors. These mounds are flat-topped pyramids upon which the elite leaders built their homes and temples and from which they ruled. Their homes and temples had walls made of posts interwoven with sticks, grasses, and woven mats of cane and plastered with mud. The peaked roofs were of thatched grasses. Each of the cleared mounds supported such buildings during the occupation of the site. The homes of other residents were scattered around the mounds with the exception of the Plaza. Visible today within the arc of the cleared mounds is an open, flat, area that functioned as the Plaza where ceremonies were held and games were played.
The interpretive platform area is open from dawn to dusk. Visitors are not allowed on the mounds. Pets are allow on a leash in the interpretive platform area. No pets are allowed on the mounds.
