Last Updated on: 11th April 2025, 08:59 am
The state of Illinois is home to one of the most significant and impressive archaeological sites in all of the United States: Cahokia, known for its large earthen pyramid. But like its neighboring Midwestern states, Illinois is also home to dozens of smaller mounds, some of which are 2000 years old. During a recent road trip, I set off to explore more mounds of Illinois.
What follows is far from an exhaustive list, and it only features several different mound sites you can find in the northern part of the state. But hopefully, this article will gradually get updated and grow over time.
Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of additional ancient mounds throughout Illinois, especially in the southern part of the state. We’ll be listing some additional sites below for those who wish to do some more extensive exploring.
Gramercy Park, East Dubuque
Gramercy Park is located in the town of East Dubuque at the extreme northwest corner of Illinois, right by the state border with Iowa.
And it’s here that you’ll find a fascinating yet largely overlooked cluster of ancient mounds. As East Dubuque used to be known as Dunleith, the site is also known as the Dunleith Mound Group.
These mounds are believed to be as old as 2000 years, and they were constructed by what we now call the Hopewell culture.
The Hopewell culture thrived throughout the Midwestern US from around 1–500 AD. And the name comes from Mordecai Hopewell, the man who owned the land on which the site of Mound City, Ohio was discovered in the 19th century.
The term Hopewell, however, is merely a broad label for various Native American tribes that once inhabited this region. So while the builders of the Dunleith Mound Group likely belonged to a different tribe from the builders of Mound City, they shared numerous cultural traits.
These mounds were first investigated in 1857 by Col. Philetus W. Norris, who then returned 25 years later. Unfortunately, given how new of a science archaeology was at the time, we don’t have detailed recordings of all of Norris’ findings.
We do know, however, that Norris found as many as 17 mounds in the area, and that most of them were used for burials. And among the largest and most significant of them all is Mound 16, situated near the parking lot.
Within it, Norris discovered a huge vault comprised of no less than three chambers. And inside the vault were the skeletons of six adults and five children, in addition to numerous offerings.
A nature trail takes visitors around the entire park in a loop. After admiring the views of the Mississippi River and the scenic town of Dubuque, Iowa in the distance, you’ll come around and encounter several more mounds.
Along the way, you’ll also encounter lots of informational placards that explain useful information about the Hopewell culture and their burial techniques.
The people buried here would’ve most certainly been members of the elite. And before the mounds were added on top, the burial vaults would’ve been covered by round logs that were glued together by mortar.
There doesn’t seem to be a proper explanation, however, of why there only seems to be six or even mounds here and not seventeen. But considering how there are modern houses situated right at the edge of the park, I think we can guess.
Albany Mounds State Historic Site
The Albany Mounds State Historic Site is another ancient site situated along the Mississippi River near Illinois’ border with Iowa. As the name suggests, the mounds are located outside the town of Albany, Illinois.
Like Gramercy Park, these mounds were also constructed by the Hopewell civilization from around 200 BC–300 AD.
Near the entrance to the site, you’ll find a map showing you the approximate location of each mound. Confusingly, despite there being a paved main path intersecting the entire park, no mounds can be seen from this paved path.
Eventually, you’ll want to make a right down the main path, onto one of the dirt trails. You’ll then see prairie on one side of you and forest on the other.
While there are some humps within the prairie that look like they could be mounds, they’re so overgrown that it’s difficult to tell for sure.
Within the forest, on the other hand, are a few mounds that are clearly manmade and ancient. But they’re covered in so much overgrowth that you’ll have to pay close attention to spot them.
Some visitors might prefer the more natural and rustic look of Albany Mounds. But personally, I enjoy sites like Gramercy Park, at which visitors can be sure of exactly what they’re looking at.
Albany Mounds could certainly use some sprucing up. Even many of the informational signs are so badly eroded that they’re no longer legible.
With that said, the site is completely free to enter. And it’s quite a peaceful place to take a stroll, especially before sunset.
Beattie Park, Rockford
The city of Rockford, Illinois, is home to a small set of ancient mounds in Beattie Park, situated right next to the Rock River. Chronologically, the builders of these mounds came after the Hopewell.
The mounds here date to the Effigy Mound Period, also known as the Late Woodland Period, which spanned from around 300-1300 AD. But these particular mounds are believed to have been built between 700-1100.
Beatty Park is home to no less than three types of mounds. The first type is the basic conical mound – much like the mounds constructed by the Hopewell. Two conical mounds can be found here.
Notably, according to the on-site signage, a total of 177 have been found in the state of Illinois. But sadly, only 42 of them have survived.
Beattie Park also features one linear mound, or a long ovular mound that was typically oriented east/west or north/south. Of the 85 linear mounds discovered in Illinois, only seven remain.
Finally, Beattie Park also features a single effigy mound. While the region’s ancient inhabitants built effigy mounds in a wide variety of animal shapes, the one here represents a turtle. But like most effigy mounds, the shape can be difficult to make out from the ground level.
Beattie Park’s effigy mound is just one of Illinois’ four, though 33 have been recorded in the state in total.
If you’re doing further travels throughout the Midwest, don’t miss Iowa’s Effigy Mounds National Monument. You can also find effigy mounds in states like Wisconsin and Ohio.
Horseshoe Mound
Horseshoe Mound is located right outside the popular historical town of Galena, Illinois. But while neither online nor on-site information clarifies this one way or the other, this does NOT seem to be an ancient site. So why include it here?
Aside from just having ‘mound’ in the name, the site does indeed share some things in common with certain Adena and Hopewell sites. Namely, stone markers set up around the central circle indicate things like the winter and summer solstice sunrise and sunset positions.
While cultures like the Hopewell didn’t use large stone slabs, ancient mound builders often took things like solstices and equinoxes into account when planning their ceremonial centers.
The site was established by a local couple named Gordon and Marea McKeague, and it’s free for the public to access. While I didn’t have time, the nature preserve is also home to numerous hiking trails.
And the main highlight for many will be the view from the top of the hill. Not only does it offer views of central Galena below, but from here one can see three states at once: Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
As we’ll cover in future articles, all states are known for their ancient mounds.
More Mounds of Illinois
As mentioned, the above list is far from complete. We’ll hopefully be gradually adding more locations to this guide, while you can read more about Cahokia here.
For now, here’s a list of some other ancient mounds sites in Illinois that I have yet to visit:
- Pere Marquette State Park
- Dickson Mounds State Museum
- Naples Russell Mound
- The ‘Indian Mounds’ of Quincy, Illinois
- The ‘Hopewell Mounds’ of Nauvoo, Illinois
For those with an interest in such sites, be sure to follow Gregory L Little, Ed.D. on X. It’s thanks to his posts that I learned about most of these locations.
Additional Info
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that all of the sites mentioned above can only be accessed by car. They can all be visited on the same day, and in my case, I managed to see them all when traveling between Chicago and Davenport, Iowa.
But to see all the mounds of Illinois would likely take at least several days.