Visited on Oct 9th, but ran out of time. What a great attraction this is as it depicts an historical Indian site. Great guided tour with lots of interesting facts. Loved it. Will be back when I have more time.
From the museum entrance a trail led down to the site. The village is well laid out with a number of huts, Each one was designed to explain what they may have been used for, The interpreter was new and seemed unsure of what he was saying, but did a good job overall. It would interest young people as they did some interactive, hands on displays.The museums had a wide variety of artifacts on display and there were a few places that a picnic lunch could be had. Very clean and well done.
Passed by the sign many times finally decided to stop. Of course the first thing you go through is an overpriced gift shop with made in China Indian souvenirs. Then you learn that there is a fee for a tour of the village. It was interesting but bizarre. The tour lady kept saying that they really know very little about the natives of the settlement. There were a few genuine artifacts but most everything was a speculative re-creation. After saying little is known about the people the guide rambled on with speculative "facts". In reality this is not much more than a sideshow. Very little is actually ancient. There are no descendants to offer a true perspective. Keeping in mind that nothing here is real and the narrative is pure speculation, it is a nice break to spend an hour and get a walk after a long ride on I-77. We witnessed maintenance people with power tools and modern hardware working on the huts. While it is all fake and the guides tend to be the "organic" type who can get on your nerves with side commentary, I can't say I regretted stopping. That being said I'll never stop again.
Excellent "living museum" of Indian (Native American) life in this area 500 years ago rebuilt from the archaeological dig. Knowledgeable guides explain their buildings, lifestyle, and crafts. Gift shop has pipes made by one of the local, Native American docents! Definitely worth visiting!
This place was great short stop. We were not able to see the village because of they were working on the trails. Still was great to see everything else.
This was a spur of the moment stop on our way home to Ohio from Florida trip on 2/4/14. Weather was bad so we decided to stay over another night in the area. We saw a sign for this attraction on I-77 and I like anything Indian so we stopped. Didn't know what to expect but place looked very clean and modern and empty. I wasn't sure it was open. Had a beautiful museum and gift shop you entered. Girl at desk gave brief information on history of village and a self guided tour booklet that explains general facts. I believe it was 10.00 for fee. Took a trail down to the village by Wolf Creek. Nice short walk. We had no interpreter. Wasn't even sure if I wanted to walk path as it was cold out but just enough of walk to warm me up. Had a good time taking pics of the village and artifacts. Bought a big dream catcher in gift shop and signed up for a contest before leaving. Guess What?? I won the contest and received a beautiful large turquoise necklace in the mail!! It was a good stop over and would like to go back for pow-wow in July!
I am an enrolled Cherokee, my work is sold at the Wolf Creek Gift Shop. Obviously you are too uneducated to tell the real from the made in China stuff. People like you have no business even visiting the village, the ignorant don't deserve it. Obviously your are not native, since we don't have to pay a fee to tour the village.
Shows you what Indian life was like around 500 years ago before the white man came along. they are reconstructing the 14 original structures as they were found. They also sponsor a 5K wolf run and a green corn festival.
Take time to stop and visit this informative exhibit. Each person, from the gift shop to the village guides, were happy to show us all the interesting aspects of this unique site. No hype, village is created based on excavations done during the construction of I-77. Stop and take time to learn something new.
We visited this site recently with friends from the area. When we inquired, they were not enthusiastic about going as they had been many years ago, but agreed to take us. We were all happy we visited. Very interesting site. We were a little short on time so did not actually use a tour guide, but we would have enjoyed doing so.