Jeffers Petroglyphs
Comfrey, Minnesota, United States
About 5,000 carvings spanning 7,000 years on a Sioux quartzite outcrop in the Minnesota prairie, a place the Minnesota Historical Society itself calls ancient and sacred.
On a red quartzite outcrop running through the southwestern Minnesota prairie, about 5,000 petroglyphs record thousands of years of visiting: atlatl figures from the oldest layers, and later thunderbirds, turtles, dragonflies and shamans associated with Otoe, Dakota and Iowa traditions. The Minnesota Historical Society, which owns and operates the site, calls the carvings ancient and sacred, and quotes Dakota elder Jerry Flute's description of it as a place where Grandmother Earth speaks of the past, present and future.
The outcrop is part of Red Rock Ridge, a 23-mile quartzite feature wrapped in virgin tallgrass prairie, and ruts of an old stage route still cross the site. Interpretive programs walk visitors along the boardwalk to the carvings, which are best seen in low-angle light, and the site's dark prairie sky draws stargazing events each year.
Visiting
Jeffers Petroglyphs (27160 County Road 2, Comfrey MN) is seasonal: closed in winter, open late May through fall, with admission $12 adult (free for Native Americans, MNHS members and young children); hours carry the exact season.
Photo: The thunderbird carving, [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thunderbird_carving_at_Jeffers_Petroglyphs,_Comfrey_MN.jpg), CC BY-SA 2.0, Lorie Shaull.
Associated traditions & practices
Visitor stories