Skillet Creek Indian Mounds

Education at Skillet Creek Indian Mounds

This is the site of a prehistoric Native American ceremonial ground. Five conical burial mounds and one linear ceremonial mound lie forever on the heavily timbered limestone bluff overlooking the Des Moines and Skillet Creek valleys. The mounds were probably built 2,000 to 1,500 years ago by an extinct culture called the Woodland Indians. Found in the bottomland of this area is the old mining town of Hard Scrabble. Once a thriving town in the late 1890’s there are few remains left to indicate such a life existed. There is a parking area and self-guided interpretive trail. The area is a preserve.