This Ancient Stone Wheel In Wyoming Still Accurately Predicts Astronomical Events

Awe-inspiring and untouched, the Bighorn Mountains are the perfect location for an ancient and sacred configuration of stones.

The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is a huge rock pattern laid out centuries ago by Native Americans in an area of the mountain range that was spiritually significant. One of the most amazing things about this wheel made of stone is that it can still accurately predict astronomical events.

The arrangement of stones at the summit of Medicine Mountain is called a medicine wheel because it’s laid out in the shape of a huge wheel, spokes and all.

Mike B./TripAdvisor The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is estimated to be between 300 and 800 years old. It’s 80 feet in diameter and has 28 spokes radiating from the center. The number 28 is thought to have sacred significance among some Native American tribes because of the 28 day cycle associated with the moon.

The wheel sits in an area that’s almost 10,000 feet above the Bighorn Range.

Larry M/TripAdvisor It’s said that the spot where the wheel sits is known to Native Americans as “The Place Where the Eagle Lands.”

The medicine wheel is located inside the Bighorn National Forest, but it’s a special place of interest and is designated as such.

gerard h/TripAdvisor

It’s even a national historic landmark.

greg booras/TripAdvisor

The road up Medicine Mountain isn’t paved. You can only drive so far and will have to hike the rest of the way to the medicine wheel. The path is wide and clear, however, so it’s not a difficult journey.

Rautakallio/TripAdvisor

Many people say when they reach the summit, they can feel a change in the atmosphere, as if they truly are treading on sacred ground.

Ken E/TripAdvisor

Over 80 Native American tribes still use the Bighorn Medicine Wheel for spiritual purposes, and offerings are often tied to the fence encircling it.

Rhonda M/TripAdvisor No one is allowed inside the circle without a permit, but people of all races and walks of life make the pilgrimage to see the Bighorn Medicine Wheel every year.

Skulls, bones, and entire offerings of bison or deer are sometimes placed inside the wheel.

Eric/Flickr

Archaeoastronomers believe that the ancient Americans who built the Bighorn Medicine Wheel used it for more than religious purposes. They discovered that when sitting at one point on the wheel and looking toward another, you’ll see a specific spot on the horizon.

carfull…home from Mongolia/Flickr

Researchers learned that pairing up two points on the wheel match with points in the sky where the sun rises and sets on the longest day of the year - the summer solstice.

Neville Nel/Flickr

They also found that other pairs of points on the wheel mark where bright stars such as Sirius rise in correlation with the sun and the solstice.

Luis Felipe Padilla Moreno/Flickr

It’s amazing to think how advanced ancient civilizations were and that they could use something as simple as a pile of stones to create their technology.

brewbooks/Flickr

Have you visited the Bighorn Medicine Wheel? What was most memorable about it for you?

Mike B./TripAdvisor

The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is estimated to be between 300 and 800 years old. It’s 80 feet in diameter and has 28 spokes radiating from the center. The number 28 is thought to have sacred significance among some Native American tribes because of the 28 day cycle associated with the moon.

Larry M/TripAdvisor

It’s said that the spot where the wheel sits is known to Native Americans as “The Place Where the Eagle Lands.”