Circle Trail

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Features Geological Significance · Historical Significance · River/Creek · Views

There is no water or facilities once you leave the visitor center, so make sure you have water or use the restrooms before you leave.

The Circle trail is a paved trail that meanders through the Pipestone National Monument. The trail starts at the visitor center and passes an example quarry where you can learn what goes into mining pipestone. You can see the layers of Sioux Quartzite that have to be broken through to get to the pipestone. The trail then goes out into tallgrass prairie where markers provide information on the various plants and animals that call the prairie home.

After going through the prairie for a short distance, the trail approaches the quartzite cliffs where you can get up close to the rocks. Following the rock walls for a short distance, you come to Winnewissa Falls. This small waterfall and the trees around the falls provide shade and a nice place to rest and relax. There is a short spur trail that leads to Nicollet's Inscription, a rock inscription from the first U.S. Government expedition to the pipestone quarries in 1838.

You can also see a rock formation called the Oracle from this spur trail. Shortly after the waterfall, a rock formation called Old Stone Face can be viewed from the trail. The trail the passes through a field of smooth sumac and arrives at Lake Hiawatha and Pipestone Creek, which helped expose the original pipestone quarry and brought people to the location from all over the Great Plains. Due to chemicals and animal waste from upstream, it is not safe to wade in or drink from the creek. The trail crosses a small bridge and arrives back at the visitor center.

The tallgrass prairie at Pipestone National Monument is home to many native plants that Indians used for a variety of cases. Common Milkweed, Smooth Brome, Common Motherwort, Redd Canary Grass, Catnip, Leadplant, Smooth Sumac, Bur Oak, Silverleaf Scurfpea, and Prairie Coneflower can be seen along the trail. Deer, wild turkeys, chipmunks, and other animals can be seen depending on the time of day.