Pipestone National Monument
Minnesota
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
5.7 h fully dark
Hikes
Easy
🟢
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
Entrance
Free entry
Prescribed Burn on Monday, May 11
The prescribed burn for May 11 has concluded and the Circle Trail is now open to visitors.
Possible Bridge Closure
The Circle Trail bridge under Winnewissa Falls may be closed temporarily due to flooding caused by spring rain. Please pay attention to signage posted in the Visitor Center and at the bridge. The rest of the park and Circle Trail remain open.
Holiday Hours
On Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day the visitor center will be closed (trails will remain open with access to restrooms on the north side of the building).
For over 3,000 years, Indigenous people have quarried the red stone at this site to make pipes used in prayer and ceremony - a tradition that continues to this day and makes this site sacred to many people.
Activities
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
The grounds are open 24 hours a day year-round so that visitors may walk the 3/4-mile Circle Trail at any time.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 5078255464
✉ pipe_interpretation@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: ⛅ Partly cloudy, 78°F
☁️ 80°/52°
🌧️ 82°/63°
☀️ 95°/57°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
2%
Feb
4%
Mar
10%
Apr
19%
May
74%
Jun
82%
Jul
100%
Aug
74%
Sep
56%
Oct
29%
Nov
10%
Dec
4%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
Picnic at the Three Maidens
Indoor Interpretive Experiences · Activities such as traditional pottery-making are self-paced and may be done in as few as 15 minutes. More formal, scheduled programs average approximately one hour.
Exhibits & Film · Depending on whether you walk through exhibits just to get an idea of a place's meaning or read every word on the walls, anticipate at least 45 minutes for both the film and the exhibits.
Cultural Demonstrations · Cultural demonstrators are available throughout the day during the summer season. There is no formal program or set schedule for their demonstrations. Visitors are free to ask questions and talk with demonstrators at their leisure.
Outdoor Programs · All formal programming varies in time from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
🟢 Hike the Circle Trail · 4 mi · The trail is only 3/4 of a mile, so does not take long if walked without stopping. However, if visitors use a trail guide, read the waysides, and stop for photos, it can take upwards of an hour. Guided tours during the summer take approximately one hour.
Winter Snowshoeing · The trail is 3/4 of a mile. Time to complete the hike varies depending on factors such as experience, fitness, and whether visitors stop for photos and to read interpretive wayside signs.
Visitor centers
Visitor Center
Accessibility
15 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Parking
Parking Lotaccessible
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Pipestone National Monument — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Pipestone National Monument — each spans a cross-park journey.
Abigail Gardner Sharp
— Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, Women In HistoryAileen (Crow) Bird
— Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, QuarriersAlice Derby-Erickson
— Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, American Indian CultureBlack Elk
— Pipestone National Monument, Historical Figures, HistoryCynthia (Crow) Brady
— Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, QuarriersEphraim Taylor
— Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, American Indian CultureFrancis Eastman
— Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, American Indian CultureGeorge Catlin
— Pipestone National Monument, Pipestone, Nineteenth Century AmericaPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Visitor Center
Places to see
Circle Trail - Exhibit Quarry
audio
Inkpaduta Campsite
audio
Lake Hiawatha
audio
Leaping Rock
audio
Nicollet Marker
audio
Old Stone Face
audio
Prairie: Past and Present
audio
Ripple Marks
audio
Sioux Quartzite Cliffs
audio
Smooth Sumac
audio
South Quarry Trail Junction - Circle Trail
audio
Spotted Quarry
audioAudio & media
🎧
🎬
🖼
Learn more
Hopa Mountain, in partnership with the National Park Service, is pleased to announce the 2019 awardees of the Connecting with our Homelands travel grants. Twenty-one Indigenous organizations, schools, and nonprofits have been awarded travel funds for trips to national park units across 12 states/territories within the United States.
Aquatic invertebrates, the insect larvae, worms, crayfish and other invertebrates living in a creek tell managers much about stream health.
Scientists have recorded 92 bird species in the park over the last 9 years. Eighty of which are breeding species found in the park. The Bobolink, Common Grackle, and Clay-colored Sparrow were the most common. Six species recorded were considered species of concern for the region.
Birds are an important part of the world we live in. Habitat at Pipestone National Monument supports a diverse array of bird species, including birds of regional concern. The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network monitors birds at the park to understand how bird populations are doing and how birds respond to changes in their habitat. In 14 years of monitoring, we have found 109 different bird species on the park.
The recorded oral traditions that connect a multitude of tribal nations to the pipestone quarries. While they were often recorded by non-Native individuals, they provide a glimpse into the meaning of the quarries as space of great significance to many American Indian people.
There are several sites with history and resources related to Pipestone National Monument that can be visited in a day. If visitors are staying around Pipestone, Minnesota for a day or two, here are a few ideas for day trips.
Cultural, historical, and natural points of interest on the Monument's 3/4-mile Circle Trail.
European fur traders and explorers documented and visited the quarries over 100 years before George Catlin made them famous. Learn more about their accounts, adventures, and exploits.
How Pipestone National Monument connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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Activity
Topic
State
VisitorCenter
PassportStamp
ParkingLot
ThingToDo
Alert
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