• A quiet summer walk through the Marching Bear Group of effigy mounds

    Effigy Mounds

    National Monument Iowa

Sacred Space

The mounds preserved here are considered sacred by many Americans, especially the Monument's 12 affiliated American Indian tribes. A visit offers opportunities to contemplate the meanings of the mounds and the people who built them. The 200 plus American Indian mounds are located in one of the most picturesque sections of the Upper Mississippi River Valley.

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Did You Know?

Marching Bear Mound Group lies beside the route of the Military Road

Soldiers built a military road that eventually extended approximately fifty miles, connecting Fort Atkinson with Fort Crawford. The road — which passed through the monument's South Unit — was one of the first government-authorized roads within what would become the State of Iowa.