For many years I was a professor at the University of South
Dakota and made a nearly daily commute between Vermillion and Sioux Falls. Sometimes to fight sleep and to bring
some novelty into the drive, I would take the secondary roads and avoid the
Interstate. State Highway 19 out
of Vermillion across the Vermillion River and heading north towards Centerville
is one of secondary paved roads that I occasionally used, but I never recognized
Spirit Mound just six miles north of the USD campus. It took the celebration surrounding the 200th
anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition alert me to the existence of
Spirit Mound.
Yesterday morning I drove down to Yankton to observe and
photograph the departure of 129 kayaks and canoes as the South Dakota Kayak
Challenge got underway. On the way
back to Sioux Falls, I decided to turn north at Vermillion and return on
Highway 19 to visit Spirit Mound.
Going north, Spirit Mound Historic Prairie is located just
six miles north of Vermillion on the west side of the highway. Passing over the Vermillion River, the
landscape is flat farmland. Spirit
Mound is a glacially formed geological anomaly that drew Lewis and Clark up
from their journey on the Missouri River in 1804 for the panoramic view of
prairie and wildlife. They had
heard Native American tales of tiny spirit people who inhabited the hill. The
site continues to have a spiritual significance to many Indian people.
Spirit Mound restoration was a project of a local conservation
group and the state and federal governments that came to fruition in 2001. The park covers 320 acres and includes
a developed trail that leads from the parking lot across the prairie, around
the mound and up to the summit. Interpretive signage along the trail offers
historical and geological information to visitors. The trail is designated as a National Recreation Trail by the federal government.
There is a small park on the south end of a parking lot with
a picnic table and vault toilet.
The trail leads north from the park for .8 miles, approaching Spirit
Mound from the south and climbing around the hill to a final assent to the
summit on the north side. The total hike is about 1.6 miles over a landscape
with no shade and no water. The
trail is well designed so that inclines are gradual and the surface easy for
most hikers. I saw families with
small children, even a mother pushing a baby buggy up the trail.
The prairie along the way is composed of native grasses and
has a population of perching birds often found on grasslands. It is a pleasant walk with a gradually
broadened view of the landscape.
There are benches located at intervals for those needing a rest or
desiring a moment of contemplation.
The summit of the hill has a panoramic view over the
landscape. The DakotaDome at the
University of South Dakota, about seven hills off, is visible to the
south. Farmland instead of bison
herds now surround the site and provides a great view of current land usage.
Spirit Mound is about 60 miles south of our eastside Sioux
Falls home. It is an easy spot to
visit when returning from Yankton or Vermillion. If I were visiting the site from Sioux Falls, I think it
would be good to leave early in the morning to avoid the heat and strain of
climbing under the summer sun. It
would be good to leave Sioux Falls about 6:30 a.m. or so, drive an hour to
reach the site, spend an hour on the hike, and then stop for breakfast in
Centerville or another small town.
There are also a couple of great museums in Vermillion that might be
visited on the same trip: The National Music Museum on the campus of USD and
the W.H. Over Museum located on the north side of Vermillion. I’m so glad that I have finally visited
Spirit Mound and heartily recommend the trip.
There are several excellent websites about Spirit Mound, and
I suggest that a prospective visitor review them prior to making the trip: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Mound_Historic_Prairie
