What kind of spider is this?

I was walking in a low valley with a stand of trees, just a couple weeks after rain. There were lots of reeds growing about. I walked through the reeds when I suddenly noticed two big spiders with webs, on to the left and one to the right. They were each facing opposite directions, so I got to see both sides of this spider.

It has a big, bright orange body. The legs are black and white striped. It had its legs wrapped around it's own torso. Both spiders were resting in the center of their web. I'm really glad I notice them before walking into their webs! Do you know what species they are?

Definitely orb weaver in the family Areneidae.

I’m guessing Shamrock Orbweaver Araneus trifolium

It’s native to your region

Araneus_trifolium

My second guess would be Marbled Orbweaver also called Pumpkin Orbweaver Araneus marmoreus,

Found everywhere in the northern hemisphere north of the tropics.

Araneus_marmoreus

Both will be females.

Edward beat me to the punch - i was gonna say "orb weaver of some kind"..

most places have 'em... coloring etc. varies... they are the ones you see in the middle of big round webs.. just like you described..

i always find them pretty cool - their webs look awesome covered in morning dew - cheers!

Thanks for the ID!