Nature/Culture Trail - Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Our July 2014 visit to Cahokia Mounds included a 6.2 mile loop walk through the site.  The route surface is a combination of concrete sidewalk, gravel path and mowed grass.  

The trail starts at the parking lot south of the Interpretive Center.  Our first stop was at the Twin Mounds, Round Top and Fox.  These mounds are located about 550 yards directly south of Monks Mound and mark the southern end of the Grand Plaza.  Fox Mound is rectangular with dimensions of 125 by 160 feet and a height of 45 feet.  Round Top is about 100 feet in diameter and is also about 45 feet high.  Neither of these mounds has been excavated by archeologists.  Based on similar paired mounds at other sites, archeologists speculate that a charnel house stood on Fox Mound and Round Top was a burial mound.

Next, we headed south to Mound 72.  This 8 foot high ridge mound located just over ½ mile south of Monks Mound is not oriented to the north like the other mounds.  It is about 70 by 140 feet and has been excavated.  Radiocarbon dating of some logs gives a date around 950 AD.  This mound consists of a series of smaller mounds that were then covered.  More than 250 skeletons were found including one buried on a platform of thousands of shell beads.  Hundreds of arrowheads that may have come from as far away as Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin were also found.  

The trail continues generally northwest past additional mounds, through the woods and across a field to Woodhenge on the north side of Collinsville Road.  From Woodhenge, it heads east past Mounds 44, 42, 41 and 39 before circling the northern side of Monks Mound.  From Monks Mound, the trail recrosses Collinsville Road and meanders through the woods around some of the borrow pits before returning to the Interpretive Center.

Mound 60 or the Fox Mound

A short reconstructed portion of the ancient palisade

Mound 59 or Round Top Mound

Mound 72

This section of the trail was once a paved road

The trail enters the woods and wetland area

Emerging from the woods, the trail passes two more small mounds

Deer grazing on the far edge of the field

More deer appear as we cross the grassland

The trail is marked by short mown grass

Back in the woods, the trail is wide and easy to follow

Emerging from the woods, the trail is well maintained

Wooden trail markers are located at all junctions

The trail continues across a fallow field...

...and emerges in a hay field

The trail would be nearly invisible without the trail marker

The trail crosses a hay field nearly the size of the Grand Plaza

Crossing the field, the trail leads to Woodhenge

Beyond Woodhenge, the trail again follows a mowed path 

Mound 44 just east of Woodhenge

Mound 42 or Merrell Mound is dwarfed by Monks Mound on the horizon

A house stood on 30 foot high Mound 42 for over 100 years

A picnic area is located on the south side of Collinsville Road between Woodhenge and Monks Mound

Mound 41 was likely the site of the Trappist Monks living quarters

This tree lined lane separating Mound 41 from Monks Mound was likely constructed in the 1800s

Deer along the edge of the woods north of Monks Mound

More deer in the field northeast of Monks Mound

View from the northeast corner of Monks Mound

The trail is fairly easy to follow near Monks Mound

Instead of finishing the trail around the borrow pits, I chose to watch the sunset from atop Monks Mound.

Downtown St Louis

Sunset over a modern day borrow pit

Entrance to the site is free, but a suggested donation of $7 per adult, $5 per senior, $2 per child or $15 per family.

The historical site website is http://cahokiamounds.org/.

Monks Mound - Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds historic site is the largest constructed mound in North America.  It is 100 foot high, and about 1000 by 800 feet near the base or 16 acres.  This mound was the focal point of the community as it included the dwelling of the chief.  A 2-mile wooden palisade encircled Monks Mound, the Grand Plaza and several other mounds, but left most of the city outside its protective barrier. A series of log steps once allowed the ancient Mississippians to ascend to the top of the mound.  The mound was named for a group of monks that once lived nearby and had a garden on the first terrace.

This is the only mound on the site where visitors are allowed to climb to the top of the four terraces.  Instead of primitive log steps, a series of 58 concrete steps leads to the first terrace and another 96 lead to the third terrace.  The second terrace was on the western side of the first terrace, but its function is not known.  The fourth terrace is a barely noticeable rise on the northern half of the third terrace.  Due to its size and complexity, the mound has not been thoroughly analyzed by archeologists.  However, they have been able to determine that the mound was built upward in several stages and that the first terrace was a late addition to the structure.  Much of the soil was deposited one basketful at a time although there are at least a couple of areas where stone was encountered during drilling.

Monks Mound from the southeast

The southern face of the first terrace and stairs to the third terrace

The path crosses the first terrace on its way to the stairs leading to the third terrace

The site of the second terrace on the southwest corner of the first terrace

Ninety-six more steps to the top

Downtown St. Louis from the top of Monks Mound

Looking south across the first terrace and the Grand Plaza

The Gateway Arch

The towers of the I-70 Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge

Looking west to Mound 44 and Woodhenge with an active landfill on the left horizon

A short reconstructed section of the palisade

Interstate 70 traverses the northern edge of the site

There are several interpretive signs like this one

Monks Mound from the Grand Plaza

Entrance to the historic site is free, but there is a suggested donation of $7 per adult, $5 per senior, $2 per child or $15 per family.

The historic site website is http://cahokiamounds.org/.

Woodhenge - Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Our July 2014 visit to Cahokia Mounds continued with a stop at Woodhenge about a mile west of the Interpretive Center.  Here, on the edge of the historic site, archeologists have found evidence of five circular rings constructed of numerous red cedar poles.  Their interpretation is that the Mississippian people used it to mark seasons and set dates for other activities.  While the eastern arc allows alignment of the rising sun with the central observation pole and the western arc would provide the same with the setting sun, there is no mention of the purpose for the poles to the north and south.  Although there is no mention of this, I wonder if they might have used the entire circle as a giant protractor for laying out the city.  Each successive construction included 12 more posts than the previous version.  The reconstructed circle consists of 48 perimeter poles with a diameter of 410 feet.

The central pole is barely visible from outside the circle of posts

Poles marked with white bands mark both solstices and equinoxes

Entrance to the historic site is free, but there is a suggested donation of $7 per adult, $5 per senior, $2 per child or $15 per family.

The historic site website is http://cahokiamounds.org/.