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Natural Monuments

Decorah Impact Crater Marker

Natural Monuments

Decorah Impact Crater Marker

Highlight • Monument

Decorah Impact Crater Marker

Name: Decorah Impact Crater Marker
Rating: 2

Recommended by 4 hikers

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Location: Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States

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Best Hikes to Decorah Impact Crater Marker

hikers

1. Dunning's Spring Park & Barnhart-Van Peenen Park loop — Decorah, Iowa

7.28km

02:02

140m

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Moderate

hikers

2. River Trail loop from Decorah

6.99km

01:53

90m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Easy

Tips

Renner Anderson

June 26, 2025

About 465 to 470 million years ago, a meteorite struck near present-day Decorah, Iowa, creating a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) wide impact crater buried beneath the city's surface.

Although this highlight is named “Decorah Impact Crater Marker”, at the time of my most recent hike to this highlight, on August 2, 2025, there was no marker or monument nearby.

However, there is a large bronze medallion set in concrete marking the precise meteorite impact site located about 0.2 miles west-southwest of this highlight.. The marker can be found at GPS coordinates 43.31580, -91.77474. I have made this location a komoot highlight as well.

The bottom of the impact crater now lies about 300 feet below the marker due to geological changes that have occurred over the millennia following the meteorite strike.

The crater and its discovery are significant because it is one of fewer than 200 recognized impact structures on Earth. It has preserved a unique fossil record of ancient life, including the nearly 6-foot sea scorpion known as Pentecopterus decorahensis.

Matthew

October 3, 2023

The trails within Barnhart-Van Peenen Park are singletrack and more technical than the other trail systems in town. There are definitely some wider and smoother beginner trails (such as the access road trails), but as you branch off onto tighter trails, be prepared for rockier and rootier hiking with more hills.

Targi

November 18, 2024

Amenities & Points of Interest: fresh water spring, 8 acres tall prairie grass, trails for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing (this is a natural wildlife area which is not developed for picnicking and camping)

parks.decorahia.org/decorah-parks

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Details

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Elevation 330 m

Weather

Today

Tuesday 11 November

9°C

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Max wind speed: 23.0 km/h

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Location: Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States

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Decorah Impact Crater Marker

1. Dunning's Spring Park & Barnhart-Van Peenen Park loop — Decorah, Iowa

2. River Trail loop from Decorah

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