Effigy Mounds
Did you know Iowa is home to a National Monument? I didn’t. I knew it was a park where you can hike trails but until I made a point to learn about it further did I realize it’s an incredible historical amazement. It deserves a plethora of describing words that I can hardly narrow down. Remarkable. Glorious. Astounding. To sum up without too much of a history lesson, Native Americans from the time period 1000 BC (YES I SAID BC) to 1200 AD built earthen mounds for ceremonial and sometimes burial purposes. Four types of mounds were built, conical (round), linear (elongated round), and compound (a combo of conical and linear), and lastly the effigy (animal shaped). Dudes, what the heck. Amazing.
LAS Home Team trekked to the Effigy Mounds National Monument on a weekend in late June and in what seemed like 300 degree heat to discover this treasure ourselves. With Piper in the backpack and Isaac on his own we chose to hike the Fire Point Trail, which was approximately 2 miles, as opposed to the longer trails. At the Visitor’s Center (which starts you off with a quick movie about the history if you’d like) we snagged a 65 cent Fire Point Trail Guide which narrates the points of interest along the marked “Stops”. I recommend the guide not only to receive explanation of what you are in the graces of, but also for a thought provoking look at the people who built the mounds. Along the Fire Point Trail we were able to witness 17 conical mounds, two sets of compound mounds, and one effigy mound called Little Bear. Spectacular. The trail peaks at Fire Point; which is a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Magnificent. Throughout the trail there is also signage pointing out plants and trees and the possible uses the Native Americans had for them. Brilliant.
Walking along the wonderment
People, excuse me while I get a little emotional here, but we were hiking on land that was inhabited by and CHANGED by people over 1,000 years ago. I don’t know about any of you but the word to describe this mind blowing fact is in relation to myself is just one: small. At times I may think I’m a tree-bending giant but the truth is I’m an ant. In the Grand Scheme of Things we’re small ants. But these prehistoric people, they left something behind tangible. We can see it. We can touch it. They may be more of a mystery than anything else but these people changed the earth before recorded history and we can still see it. The Fire Point Trail Guide asks us to think about the people, the river, the reasons for the mounds, and compares this ridiculously OLD monument to our other National Monuments from recorded history. Thank you, Fire Point Trail Guide, for humbling me. Stupefying.
Sea of Green
Alright so my moment of reflection and sentiment has passed and now I’ll give you the word up on the hike itself. It’s meaty but manicured. It’s good hiking. Everything you are looking at, mounds aside even, is absolutely beautiful. In some areas you’re looking at a sea of green plants that look like they have trees floating in them; which so far is something I’ve never actually seen before. Or realized that I’ve seen before. I can’t say that explaining to a four year old that he’s looking at part of an outline of a bear that you can really only see in its full glory from a bird’s eye view, is easy. So unless your kids can grasp more abstract concepts I’d skip telling them that they are going to see animal mounds. Confusing, dudes. When I say meaty don’t get me wrong, Fire Point Trail is a doable hike for a four year old. (As always the word up while hiking with little ones is that you always have to be prepared to carry them when they wimp out on you.) There’s no-touchy-touchy rules as to not disturb the insane history you’re observing but there are benches for resting along the way. Again, a handy helper for hiking with kids.
After the hike we busted out the double stroller and after guzzling a gallon of water each we hit the Yellow River Bridge Boardwalk Trail; which travels for one mile over a wetlands environment. It was an entirely different landscape than the mounds. We witnessed so much wildlife on the Boardwalk. A buck spied on us through our entire walk and sometimes I felt like he was close enough to touch. We watched a Blue Heron fly up from the water. Tiny frogs the size of my fingertip littered the Boardwalk. Birds were everywhere, singing and hanging out on the water and land. Gorgeous. The Boardwalk was the cooling-down cherry on top of a hot hikey cake.
The miles and miles of trails we didn’t hike I can safely assume are as awe-inspiring as Fire Point Trail. According to the maps given at the Visitor’s Center there so much more to see, including bird effigies. There is definitely reason to return to this remarkable monument and keep coming back. Much respect and props to the Native Americans for leaving hints of themselves to ponder and praise.
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Your turn, kids. Tell us about your experience at Effigy Mounds. Did you encounter any zombies?
You can see Home Team’s photos in the gallery. They are available for purchase as well.
Tags: Effigy Mounds, Fire Point Trail, Hiking, Hiking with kids, Home Team, Mississippi River, National Monuement, Native Americans, Yellow River
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