Wender·Vista
Medicine Wheel Bighorn (ancient stone circle)
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWyoming
atop Medicine Mountain in the Bighorn Range

Medicine Wheel Bighorn (ancient stone circle)

— — twenty-eight spokes drawn from a single stone heart.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A circle of limestone laid in the alpine tundra above 9,600 feet, somewhere between three hundred and eight hundred years old, with twenty-eight spokes running from a central cairn out to a rim eighty feet across. The Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Eastern Shoshone, and Lakota still come up to pray here. Visitors leave the car a mile and a half below and walk the rest in.

from the studio
Medicine Wheel Bighorn (ancient stone circle)
— bring it home

Medicine Wheel Bighorn (ancient stone circle), on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Medicine Wheel Bighorn (ancient stone circle)

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

The Medicine Wheel sits at 9,642 feet on Medicine Mountain in the Bighorn National Forest, in north-central Wyoming about 30 miles east of Lovell. It is a limestone circle roughly 80 feet across, with 28 spokes running from a central cairn out to a stone rim and six smaller cairns set around the perimeter. Carbon-dated material from the site places it between 300 and 800 years old. The wheel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 and is co-managed today by the U.S. Forest Service and a council of affiliated tribes.

— the silence

The site is reached by a 1.5-mile walking-only road from the parking area on Forest Road 12, a deliberate choice made with the tribes to keep cars and noise below the rim. Visitors are asked not to enter the circle or touch the prayer offerings tied along the rope fence. Researchers have noted that several spokes align with the summer solstice sunrise and with the heliacal risings of Aldebaran, Rigel, and Sirius, the same stars the Plains horse cultures tracked through the short alpine summer.

— the visit

U.S. 14A climbs from Lovell up the west flank of the Bighorns to the Medicine Wheel turnoff, where Forest Road 12 runs three miles to the visitor parking area. From there it is the 1.5-mile walk to the circle, with an elevation gain of around 250 feet. The site is open seasonally, typically from late June through early October depending on snow. There is no fee. The wheel is occasionally closed for ceremony, posted at the trailhead.

— where
United States · Big Horn County, Wyoming
— within
Bighorn National Forest
— elevation
2,940 m · 9,642 ft
— position
44.8264° N · 107.9211° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
48 km W
Lovell, Wyoming
gateway town
55 km NW
Bighorn Canyon
national recreation area
110 km E
Sheridan, Wyoming
city
N
Medicine Wheel Bighorn (ancient stone circle)
Lovell, Wyoming
Bighorn Canyon
Sheridan, Wyoming
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Medicine Wheel Bighorn (ancient stone circle) — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Material recovered from the site dates between roughly 300 and 800 years old, placing the wheel's construction somewhere between the late 1200s and the early 1700s. Some associated cairns may be older.

The outer rim is about 80 feet in diameter. Twenty-eight stone spokes run from a central cairn out to the rim, with six additional cairns set in and around the perimeter.

It is generally attributed to ancestors of the Plains tribes who still use the site today, including the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Eastern Shoshone, and Lakota. The exact builders are not recorded.

Astronomer John Eddy proposed in 1974 that several spokes align with the summer solstice sunrise and with the rising points of Aldebaran, Rigel, and Sirius. The alignments are debated but well-known in the literature.

Yes, by walking 1.5 miles from the Forest Road 12 parking area. The site is open seasonally, usually late June through early October, and is occasionally closed for tribal ceremony.

No. It is a National Historic Landmark within the Bighorn National Forest, co-managed by the U.S. Forest Service and a council of affiliated tribes.

— about the piece in your home

It can be. The Medicine Wheel is an active sacred site, so the piece reads as a quiet acknowledgement of place rather than decoration. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio is the gentle choice.

The piece pairs well with Mountain-modern, Minimalist Western, and natural-material interiors built on wool, leather, and stone. It does not require a Western theme to land.

Yes. The current move toward textured, earth-tone rooms with single quiet focal pieces suits this work. The circle reads as a contemplative panel rather than a scenic view.

A Large carries the circle at sofa scale. For a long wall a 4-tile Mural opens the spokes outward; a 9-tile Mural sets it at room scale.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and rated for vertical installations including backsplashes and shower surrounds.

A soft microfibre cloth with water. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface and the finish is sealed, so no special cleaner is needed.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio, drawn by Reid Wender as part of the WenderVista atlas. No licensing, no third-party imagery.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.