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

    Effigy Mounds

    National Monument Iowa

Things To Know Bicycle Information

Hiking Trail at Effigy Mounds

Wood Chipped Hiking Trail Near Fire Point.

NPS Photo

There are no bicycle trails nor is the use of bicycles allowed in the Monument. High impact recreational activity is limited at the Monument due to the sacred nature of the site.

Traveling by bicycle to Effigy Mounds can be dangerous. From Marquette, State Highway 76 is a very narrow road with no shoulders nestled between railroad tracks and a sheer 400 foot limestone hillside. From the north Highway 76 approaches Effigy Mounds on a narrow roadway including a steep downhill grade.

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.