Effigy Mounds National Monument

About

Effigy Mounds National Monument protects more than 200 American Indian mounds, including animal-shaped effigy mounds, on bluffs above the Mississippi River where the Yellow River joins it. Twenty American Indian tribes have cultural ties to the site, which sits three miles north of Marquette, Iowa on Highway 76, the Great River Road, and seven miles south of Harpers Ferry, Iowa.

Most visits start at the visitor center, which has a museum, an auditorium, and a park store where you can get trail advice before heading out. From there you can pick a short route near the building or a longer trail network that climbs to bluff-top overlooks and additional mound groups, including the Fire Point Loop above the river.

The short route reaches three conical mounds north of the visitor center over a 65-foot concrete bridge and a 105-foot boardwalk. A separate boardwalk, the Yellow River Boardwalk Trail, runs about 0.4 miles one way from the visitor center through a wetland to the Yellow River bridge, with a grass side path partway along leading up to two linear mounds and one conical mound. Past these two routes, the park describes its remaining trails as long and steep, climbing well above the river valley.

The monument lies on the Mississippi River Trail bicycle route as well as the Great River Road driving route, so cyclists and road-trippers pass through as well as day visitors. The closest commercial airport is La Crosse Municipal Airport in Wisconsin, about 65 miles north. Marquette and Harpers Ferry, the two nearest towns, sit three and seven miles away and are the closest places to find a meal or a room for the night.

Accessibility

Effigy Mounds National Monument is wheelchair accessible at the visitor center and on two short boardwalk routes, but most of its mound trails are not, since the National Park Service describes them as long and steep.

Arriving and parking: the park does not publish details about the number or marking of accessible spaces at the visitor center lot.

Entrance and inside the building: the visitor center, museum, auditorium, and park store are accessible to wheelchairs. The entrance has automatic door openers, and the museum has a ramp with a 1:12 slope. A park-owned wheelchair can be borrowed at the front desk on request. Information brochures are available in Braille, and a tactile mound-shape board can be requested for visitors with sight impairments.

Getting around outside: three conical mounds just north of the visitor center are reached over a 65-foot concrete bridge and a 105-foot boardwalk. The separate Yellow River Boardwalk Trail is about 0.4 miles one way, built from recycled planks, and runs from the visitor center down through wetlands to the Yellow River bridge. Beyond these two routes, the mound groups on the bluffs above require hiking trails the park calls long and steep, and the monument does not publish details on restrooms, elevators, or sensory accommodations elsewhere on site.

Practical tips: call the visitor center at 563-873-3491 ext. 123 ahead of a visit to ask about current boardwalk conditions or to arrange the loaner wheelchair and Braille materials. Service animals performing work are allowed throughout the monument's public facilities and grounds under ADA rules, and pets that are not trained service animals must follow the park's regular pet policy instead.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Iowa

• Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden (Des Moines)
• Science Center of Iowa (Des Moines)
• Figge Art Museum (Davenport)
• Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (West Branch)
• National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium (Dubuque)
• Reiman Gardens (Ames)

Photo credits

• A large earthen bear-shaped mound rises among autumn trees at Effigy Mounds.: Archbob, CC0 (source)
• Effigy Mounds National Monument official National Park Service image: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• The visitor center has a paved walkway leading to its entrance door.: SkybirdForever, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• Leaf-covered conical mounds rise among bare trees in the Great Bear Mound Group.: Jokrasinski, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)