I haven't been here since I was a kid. Neat to come back and explore it decades later as an adult, and nice that it's dog-friendly! It's a National Monument, so you can expect well-manicured trails for the most part, with the exception of Hanging Rock trail; be prepared to legit hike! Marching Bear trail was my favorite of all. Me and my dog were the only ones on it the entire time!! How?! It does start off with a decent incline that gets the blood pumping, but levels off to a lovely journey that opens up to mound after mound. Pretty awesome! The mounds aren't as sizable height-wise on Marching Bear as the others, but it's well worth it.

Wonderful visitor center, and very friendly park ranger. The hike to the top is a little bit strenuous but fun. There are benches on the trail to rest and catch your breath. This is a sacred ground, so please be respectful and stay on the trails! The trail is filled with wood chips, so that should help during wet conditions. Beautiful lookout points and animal shaped mounds once you reach the top, and of-course you have earned yourself an easy hike down :-) Pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

This is great place for hiking. If you love hiking, this is a fun place to explore. Hiking is not my favorite and I wasn't fully prepared for the huge uphill trek at the beginning. I appreciated the benches to take a rest. I almost gave up and went back the other direction but my husband encouraged me to keep going. I so glad I did because I really started to have fun once we made it up to the top. The sights are beautiful and the mounds are very interesting to see.

Nice visitor center with helpful staff, first portion of this hike up to the main mounds is a nice incline hike. Once you're up there the views are nice of the woods, river and mounds. Kids enjoyed it. Allowed them to burn off some energy, the mounds weren't particularly exciting to them but they're all under 10. Good family stop.

Amazing hiking trails throughout. They were very well maintained and some good history lessons if you stop to read. Once you get to the top of the lookout the view is incredible. If you only have a couple hours then the fire lookout is a good one to do and if you follow the trail you'll see little bear and giant bear mounds which are pretty neat in itself. I can't wait to go back and explore more of the trails.

The trails were amazing, easy to navigate and covered in wood chips. The views...Wow! Also friendly, helpful and informative rangers. No charge, but donations are appreciated. I'm 58 yo, not in the best shape, but there were benches to stop and rest. The only hard part was at the start of the trail as you climb up. Worth the time! It has become my favorite spot.

Several hiking trails to amazingly well-preserved mounds. Terrific visitor center and museum with very helpful staff. There is so much to learn about the Effigy Mounds and the Native Americans who built them.

Great national monument. Hikes take you up to the top for some great views. Visitor center is nice and everyone is friendly. Dog friendly hiking too!

Beautiful views, very well maintained hiking trails. The initial climb has a bit of an incline after that it’s all flat and easy walk. Nice breeze up top as well as several benches. The visitor center has a free museum and knowledgeable park rangers that also lead tours!!!!

The bear shape of mounds were really easy to tell! This national monument was much more interesting than what I expected. The trail was well maintained and the view of Mississippi River was spectacular. I guess the view should be even better in late October, when the fall color was still there.

Admittedly this is not our most exciting national monument. This is a nice reflective hike through the burial grounds. The trail has a steep switchback but is otherwise pretty easy. My toddler made it all but the last half mile. In September the wildflowers were blooming and the ranger helped us identify them. There is a nice informative museum in the welcome center. The touch station was popular and let my little kids feel the difference in several animal furs as well as fossils and animal bones.

Pretty spiritual experience to hike up to the top of the mountain. My son insisted that he can feel the breath and spirit while he walking on it. I mean nothing scaring just purely good feelings of connecting back with history and native people used to be here.

We walked into the visitors' center to get a map and check out some information. We ended up getting way more education. The gentleman manning the desk was so knowledgeable and answered all our questions and more. It made our hike that much more interesting. We picked up a new passport for the stamps and an ornament while there. Then we hiked and enjoyed all the views and history in person.

My wife and I wanted to view some Eagles on the Mississippi River, the Park didn’t disappoint! The hike started out up hill and was very well groomed, Thumbs up !

Excellent ranger great paths ready to walk but it's a steep switchback for half a mile or more. Be prepared and leave your dogs at home in the hot weather. I saw several seriously over heated dogs. The effigy mounds are along the top of the ridge. Excellent. Great bookshop if you want more information. Also excellent gift shop. Well run place.

First of the had both trails along the river and. Up in the mountains. The views where spectacular. The visitor center was closed due to Christmas, but they had a porter potty that was really clean. Really loved it here.

Beautiful National Park Monument situated on the Mississippi Riverside. I completed the Twin Scenic Trail. There's no rush that we could find. The park visitor center also has a museum explaining the history and park rangers are informative.

It was an adventurous and at times intensive hike. Healthy and fulfilling in being immersed into the nature. My heart desired to know more than what was available of these tribes. My imagination ran a little wild. And, unless I'm mistaken, these people likely had a rich and glorious spiritual outlook of life and death. A truly beautiful scenery to behold.

Effigy Mounds is a smaller probably lesser known National Monument but we were excited to see this unique area and check another junior ranger off our list and it did not disappoint. This is worth a stop! The visitor center/museum was informative and the rangers were knowledgeable. We enjoyed completing the junior ranger books and learning the historical and cultural importance of this area. The hiking trails are well maintained and doable for most ages and fitness. We were able to push a jogging stroller on the trails and had ages 2 years to 63 in our group. Many mounds are viewable including little and big bear on a 4 mile round trip hike from visitor center. Highly recommend!

A beautifully stunning, scenic space with a rich and vibrant history. I loved walking through the little museum and learning about how important and sacred this place was. And I was so happy we waited until fall to come up. Not only was the weather amazing, but the views were spectacular.

A perfect hike for the fall! We chose the 2 mile loop and it was just what our legs needed after a long car ride. The trails do go up for 1/3 of a mile so be prepared for a workout! As we walked along the well kept trails, we could feel the sacredness of our surroundings. Very peaceful. The fall colors were an extra bonus. I highly recommend!

Nice park with some clean trails. Often see some trails that have trash scattered here and there but really didn't notice any at this park so they do a good job of keeping it clean. Park was open dawn/dusk but the office/building had specific hours so be sure to check before going. We went in late October to see colorful leaves and got there before the office was open. Was only a couple of other cars there but was lot when we left a little over an hour later. The trail is only challenging for the first part and the rest was easy. Can get some great views at 2 stops (Fire point and Twin Views) and still be under 2 miles round trip. I enjoyed it more than Pike’s Peak.

Beautiful park. Online said it didn't open until 9 am but that is the visitors center. The park is open dawn to dusk so we were able to get in at 8:30. Park ranger was going to work and asked if we had any questions before she went inside. We took the first trail to Fire Point Outlook. It in a steep incline to start and I was thankful for resting spots. Trail is mulch and easy to walk on and know where you are going. Trail was 1.7 miles round trip. The leaves were gorgeous and the view of the Mississippi was bright due to sunrise. There was only one other couple there and they were far ahead of us. When we left we ran into others on their way up so we had good timing. It was super windy in the trees but not where we stood. The leaves (and acorns) were falling. It was so pretty! We only did the one trail and left as we were on to other places and only happened to drive past this due to where we ended up getting our hotel for the night.