Effigy Mounds National Monument
Hiking in Effigy Mounds National Monument | Pikes Peak State Park | May 2024
After a peaceful night in Minnesota, it was time to return to our home state once again. And we could think of no better way to enter than by taking highway 26, following the Mississippi River, which we think is one of the most scenic roads in the state. We had driven the Wisconsin side and crossed at Lansing back in 2021, but this was our first time to drive the Minnesota-into-Iowa side. We enjoyed the winding road and the tall bluffs on both sides of the river, and stopped at a rest area to stretch our legs and read a little bit about the area.
While in the area, we really wanted to revisit two parks that we had last been to 10 years ago: Effigy Mounds National Monument, and Pikes Peak State Park. Both of these parks are a great way to see the beauty in the area, with trails of varying length that actually have elevation gain. We started at Effigy Mounds, where we hiked the Eagle Rock, Fire Point, and Bear Mound Trail. The trail started with switchbacks going up the bluff, which were steep but thankfully shaded — it was definitely starting to feel like summer after our delayed spring up North! Once we made it to the top of the bluff, there was at least a bit more of a breeze.
At the trail intersection on the top of the bluff, we took the loop trail counter-clockwise, first going to Eagle Rock lookout (pictured above). I’d say this one was my favorite out of the two main lookouts on the trail. There’s a bench right there, perfectly positioned to take in the view, and so we sat and enjoyed it for some time. After that, we continued on to Fire Point, which was also a nice view, and featured a bit more to the East and North. Continuing on the loop, I let Curtis take the short spur trail to the bear mound and I kept Charlotte focused on finishing the loop. For some reason, she often speeds up once it’s just her and I, always making Curtis have to go farther than expected to catch up with us. We made it back down to the van, then had a little picnic lunch in the lawn.
Next, we continued driving South to Pikes Peak State Park. We had done a lot of hiking here last time we came, so today we mostly just returned for the view, and to hang out in the picnic area. Curtis went for another walk while Charlotte and I relaxed and watched an Eras tour livestream. We seriously considered camping here, but unfortunately the park had a rule that if you’re camping over the weekend, you had to pay for a minimum of two nights – very frustrating especially when there are obviously many open spots. So instead, we carried on with our original plan and drove further South to another park.
Tonight was actually the first night that we’ve camped in the van in Iowa — and it turned out to be a very eventful night! We stayed at Frenchtown County Park which was right on the Mississippi River. It doesn’t really have traditional spots or services/outhouses, it’s just a gravel road that ends with a boat ramp. But we can’t complain when it’s free! Walking Charlotte around showed us that there were many dead fish and turtles scattered around that we had to constantly fight her from eating/rolling in. There were some other people who came and went, but by nightfall we were the only ones here.
What really made tonight memorable was that it was the night of the big geomagnetic storm! While I don’t have any good pictures to share of our experience, I’ll always remember staying up until midnight watching lights flash and dance across the sky, standing in the dark with Curtis and hearing big splashes in the water and rustling in the weeds. (We joked about what it could be — a bear?! Funny enough, just a week later I saw a news article about a bear sighting just South of here!) We thought it was funny that after our years of traveling and our trips North to Canada and Alaska, the first time that we saw the Northern Lights was in our home state of Iowa.
