|
North American Prairie Conference
Field Trip Information Summary
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
|
|
Effigy Mounds National
Monument |
|
Brief
description of site and highlights of site (habitat, flora, fauna): |
-
Effigy Mounds contains about 200
prehistoric Native American burial mounds located along the Mississippi
River
-
The park contains wetlands and
rivers in floodplain forests with woodlands, and prairie sites on top of
400 foot bluffs.
-
The visit would consist of brief
introduction to the park at the headquarters and then a walk or drive to
50 acre prairie restoration that includes 65 species and two planting
methods.
-
Half was drill seeded and the
other half broadcast seeded.
-
No tilling or herbicide was used
to restore this 50 year old fallow field area.
-
|
| Walking distance,
rigor, potential hazards: |
-
Buses could drive right to the site so only a short walk of
about ¼ to ½ mile.
-
From there people could walk the 11 miles of trails to see
the monument and other prairie restoration areas including naturally
recovering old field areas and with arrangements some goat prairies.
-
The walk will be easy for the prairie restoration visit.
-
Independent walks could be rigorous to see outlying areas
due to steep trails and distance.
-
A well managed trail system lead to most of the points of
interest within the park however on the self guided hiking the trails will
be steep at times.
-
Bring repellant
|
|
Area
of site (approximate acreage): |
The monument is 2450 acres in size and contains about 80
acres of prairie. |
|
Duration of field trip: |
All day. |
|
Access
for charter bus loading/unloading/parking: |
Yes . Visitor Center and Parking lot. |
|
Availability of drinking water, rest rooms, shade: |
Yes, in Visitor Center |
|
General location (direction/distance from nearest town):
|
Effigy Mounds is located 3 miles north of Marquette Iowa on
Hwy. 76 |
|
Distance from Winona, MN: |
Effigy Mounds is about 90 miles south of Winona MN. |
|
Potential leader(s)/guide(s): |
Rodney Rovang, Resource Manager |