About Cahokia Mounds
Cahokia Mounds is preserved the section of the largest prehistoric
Native American city north of Mexico. The city had a population
of about ten and twenty thousand and grew to cover 4,000 acres.
The site has a hundred-foot-tall Monks Mound, the largest
prehistoric earthen moundin the Americas. In 1966 Cahokia Mounds
was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cahokia Mounds has sixty-eight of the original 120 earthen mounds
builtby the Native Americans. Visitors may climb a stairway
to the top of Monks Mound.Other features include a stockade wall
and “Woodhenge,” a circle of posts around a large central post
from which the sunrise can be aligned to determine the season and
time of year.
Interpretive Center Houses
The Interpretive Center houses museum exhibit galleries, an orientation
show theater, a public programming auditorium, museum shop, a snack-
food service, public restrooms, staff offices, and a courtyard for
educational programs. Programs at Cahokia Mounds are organized
around the Interpretive Center. Exhibit galleries and an award-
winning orientation show, “City of the Sun,”. A “mural walk”
is available for loan at the information desk. The visitor center
is accessible to persons with disabilities.
Tour Information
During June, July, and August guided tours are conducted Monday through
Saturday. During April, May, September and October, guided tours are
held on Saturdays and Sundays. The site holds three trails for
self-guided tours. Along the Plaza, Monks Mound, and Woodhenge trails
visitors can view some of the site’s most significant historic features.
Cassette tapes and guidebooks to these trails may be obtained at the
Interpretive Center. Both are available in several languages.