Cranberry Creek Mound Group features one of the best complexes of Native American effigy mounds in the Midwest and one of the best archeological sites in the state.  Found in northeastern Juneau County, this natural area is bound by 7th and 8th Streets on the north and south, respectively, and 16th Avenue on the east.  7th Street is gravel-based and cuts through the northern  1/3 of the site, allowing space for parking on the side of this little-traveled route.

Despite its typical low usage, one of the mitigating factors in my shorter than desired visit here was a sketchy-looking white-panel van that made several trips back and forth along the road as I was arriving and then hiking around the site.  The cloudy, drizzly weather also precipitated (hah!) an early exit.  I did not get to see as many of the mounds as I was hoping, but I did enjoy the openness of the pine-oak forest with many savanna-like characteristics.  Though long past bloom, it was nice to observe numerous wild lupine plants scattered about the forest floor.  I think that this site could be more interesting in mid-late May and I may return there at some point, but would not place it high on the list.

2017 Update: I returned to this site as part of a field trip and was able to visit 2 large groups of mounds.  There are hundreds of small conical, large conical, linear, bear/panther, and bird mounds.  Photos and videos to come!

Mound

Forest

Forest

Wild Lupine

Savanna

Sign in the Forest

More of my photos (and full-res) from Cranberry Creek Mound Group can be viewed here.

400 more blog posts to go!  Well, actually a few more than that remain; counting SNA’s delisted since I started and a few SNA’s to be designated, the current total is 687, though hopefully, that will increase!

If you would like to help support this project, please consider a donation.  There are many SNA’s yet to visit and even more to revisit and I ultimately plan to put this together in the form of a book.  Thank you!

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