Historic Cities, Churches, and Cemeteries

Lets go hike Effigy Mounds National Monument.

## Fire Point Trail Tour – 10:00 AM Saturday-Sunday

What to expect
On this 2-mile round trip hike along a woodchipped trail ascending 350 ft (106 m) in elevation up five switchbacks, you will see 2 compound mound groups, Little Bear mound, and over 20 conical mounds. There will be multiple stops along the trail as the ranger talks about mound building culture and the history of the park. This tour will last 1.5 to 2 hours.

Know your physical health before joining a tour of Fire Point Trail, especially if you have heart or respiratory problems, or other physical difficulties.

If someone in the group can't do this do to health we can do our own tour at your pace. The park does have some elevation

Effigy Mounds National Monument is the nation's foremost educational center for interpreting the earthen mounds that were built by the "Effigy Mound People," an ancient American Indian culture. Eastern Woodland Indians built mounds from about 500 B.C. until the early European contact period. Prehistoric mounds are common from the plains of the Midwest to the Atlantic seaboard, but only in this region of the Upper Midwest was there a culture that regularly constructed effigy mounds in the shape of mammals, birds or reptiles. At this site there are 31 effigy mounds, plus 175 conical, linear and compound mounds.
This National Park Service site is also important for wildlife habitat. It lies at the heart of Iowa's largest Bird Conservation Area, the new Effigy Mounds Yellow River Forest BCA, designated in 2003 by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The woodlands of this region provide significant habitat for forest-nesting and migratory birds, many of which are declining in population.

We can go over to Harper's Ferry for lunch and enjoy the driftless area.