Effigy Mounds National Monument
The mounds preserved here are considered sacred by many Americans, especially the Monument's 20 culturally associated 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.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Hours
| Park Hours | Daily · Sunrise to Sunset |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and December the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
The visitor center is open year-round except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day; during extreme weather conditions; and as indicated below. Because visitor center hours may vary by season, the specific opening and closing times during either the summer or the winter season follow.
No campgrounds, no webcams or things to do in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Events
- "Pop-Up" Ranger Program10/1602:30 PM · runs through Oct 31 · free
- Yellow River Boardwalk Guided Hike10/1601:00 PM · runs through Oct 31 · free
- Fire Point Ranger Guided Hike10/1610:00 AM · runs through Oct 31 · free
- Ranger Guided Marching Bears Hike10/1701:00 PM · free
- Old Military Road Guided Hike with Dr. Josh Wacuta10/2501:00 PM · free
- Ranger Guided Hanging Rock Hike11/0109:30 AM · free
Show all 8Hide
- Traditional Ho-Chunk Flute Making Workshop11/0506:00 PM · free · registration required
- Family Fall Hike & Nature Craft11/1502:00 PM · free
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Historic landmarks nearby
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Iowa guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Full checklist: 192 birds, 43 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican Kestrel · Bald Eagle · Barred Owl · Broad-winged Hawk · Cooper's Hawk · Eastern Screech-Owl · Golden Eagle · Great Horned Owl · Hen Harrier · Long-eared Owl · Merlin · Mississippi Kite · Osprey · Peregrine Falcon · Red-shouldered Hawk · Red-tailed Hawk · Sharp-shinned Hawk · Swainson's Hawk · Turkey Vulture
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican Bittern · American Black Duck · American Coot · American White Pelican · American Wigeon · Black-crowned Night Heron · Blue Goose · Blue-winged Teal · Bufflehead · Canada Goose · Common Goldeneye · Common Loon · Common Merganser · Common Teal · Double-crested Cormorant · Great Blue Heron · Great Egret · Greater Scaup · Greater White-fronted Goose · Green Heron · Hooded Merganser · Horned Grebe · Lesser Scaup · Northern Pintail · Pied-billed Grebe · Red-breasted Merganser · Ring-necked Duck · Ruddy Duck · Sandhill Crane · Tundra Swan · Virginia Rail · Wood Duck
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican Golden Plover · American Woodcock · Black Tern · Black-bellied Plover · Bonaparte's Gull · Caspian Tern · Common Snipe · Common Tern · European Herring Gull · Forster's Tern · Greater Yellowlegs · Killdeer · Least Sandpiper · Lesser Yellowlegs · Long-billed Dowitcher · Pectoral Sandpiper · Ring-billed Gull · Semipalmated Plover · Short-billed Dowitcher · Solitary Sandpiper · Spotted Sandpiper · Upland Sandpiper
Gamebirds & dovesCommon Pheasant · Common Pigeon · Mourning Dove · Northern Bobwhite · Ruffed Grouse · Wild Turkey
WoodpeckersDowny Woodpecker · Hairy Woodpecker · Northern Flicker · Pileated Woodpecker · Red-bellied Woodpecker · Red-headed Woodpecker · Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Hummingbirds & swiftsChimney Swift · Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Also on the checklistAcadian Flycatcher · Alder Flycatcher · American Cliff Swallow · American Crow · American Goldfinch · American Redstart · American Robin · American Tree Sparrow · Baltimore Oriole · Barn Swallow · Belted Kingfisher · Black-and-white Warbler · Black-billed Cuckoo · Black-capped Chickadee · Blue Jay · Blue-gray Gnatcatcher · Blue-headed Vireo · Bobolink · Brown Creeper · Brown Thrasher · Brown-headed Cowbird · Canvasback · Carolina Wren · Cedar Waxwing · Chipping Sparrow · Common Grackle · Common Moorhen · Common Nighthawk · Common Starling · Common Yellowthroat · Connecticut Warbler · Dark-eyed Junco · Dickcissel · Eastern Bluebird · Eastern Kingbird · Eastern Meadowlark · Eastern Phoebe · Eastern Towhee · Eastern Wood Pewee · Evening Grosbeak · Field Sparrow · Fox Sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned Kinglet · Golden-winged Warbler · Gray Catbird · Gray-cheeked Thrush · Great Crested Flycatcher · Great Grey Shrike · Hermit Thrush · House Finch · House Sparrow · House Wren · Indigo Bunting · Lark Sparrow · Least Flycatcher · Loggerhead Shrike · Mallard · Marsh Wren · Northern Cardinal · Northern Goshawk · Northern Raven · Northern Rough-winged Swallow · Northern Shoveler · Orchard Oriole · Philadelphia Vireo · Pine Siskin · Prothonotary Warbler · Purple Finch · Purple Martin · Red Crossbill · Red-eyed Vireo · Red-winged Blackbird · Redhead · Rose-breasted Grosbeak · Roughleg · Ruby-crowned Kinglet · Rusty Blackbird · Sand Martin · Savannah Sparrow · Scarlet Tanager · Sedge Wren · Snow Bunting · Song Sparrow · Sora · Swainson's Thrush · Swamp Sparrow · Tree Swallow · Tufted Titmouse · Veery · Vesper Sparrow · Warbling Vireo · Whip-poor-will · White-breasted Nuthatch · White-crowned Sparrow · White-throated Sparrow · Willow Flycatcher · Winter Wren · Wood Thrush · Yellow-bellied Flycatcher · Yellow-billed Cuckoo · Yellow-breasted Chat · Yellow-headed Blackbird · Yellow-throated Vireo
Small mammalsBEAVER · Cinereus Shrew · Common Muskrat · EASTERN CHIPMUNK · EASTERN COTTONTAIL · Eastern Fox Squirrel · Eastern Gray Squirrel · House Mouse · Meadow Jumping Mouse · Meadow Vole · POCKET GOPHER · Pine Vole · Prairie Vole · Red Squirrel · Southern Bog Lemming · Southern Flying Squirrel · Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel · Western Harvest Mouse · White-footed Deermouse · White-tailed Jack Rabbit · bee shrew · eastern mole · short tail shrew
PredatorsAlleghanian Spotted Skunk · American Badger · American Mink · Bobcat · COYOTE · Ermine · GRAY FOX · Long-tailed Weasel · RIVER OTTER · STRIPED SKUNK · common raccoon · least weasel · red fox
Hoofed mammalsWhite-tailed Deer
BatsBig Brown Bat · Black Bat · Eastern Pipistrelle · LITTLE BROWN MYOTIS
Also on the checklistVirginia Opossum · WOODCHUCK
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
Weather & climate
All four seasons are represented in this area with summer temperature in the upper 80’s with higher heat indexes due to humidity and winter daytime highs in the 20's. Temperatures are in °Fahrenheit.
Questions people ask
Does Effigy Mounds charge an entrance fee?
No. Effigy Mounds is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
What are the hours at Effigy Mounds?
Standard hours are Sunrise to Sunset, every day.
Source: National Park Service
How busy is Effigy Mounds?
56,912 recreation visits in 2025, number 253 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
Is there cell service at Effigy Mounds?
At the park's reference point, FCC coverage maps show Verizon 4G LTE and T-Mobile 5G. No reported coverage for AT&T. Coverage inside the park varies by location.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
When was Effigy Mounds established?
1949.
Source: Wikipedia
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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