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DictionarycairnStone marker
noun

cairn

KAIRN/kern/

A mound of stones used as a marker.

A low stone cairn marks the trail across the bare hillside.

A deliberately built mound of irregular stones marks the continuation of a hiking trail across bare rocky ground, with a smaller cairn farther along the same route.
Etymology
cairnScotsheap of stones

Scottish carne named a heap of stones. The English word keeps that concrete image for a stone pile serving as a marker or memorial.

In context

Cameron Hall0:14
This is a cairn. A cairn marks the trail in places that it may not be obvious. Yes, it is a stack of rocks to mark the trail.
What is the Difference Between a Rock Stack and a Cairn on a Hiking Trail?

More examples

  • The walkers paused beside the summit cairn.
  • A cairn covered the old burial site.
  • Existing cairns guided us through the rocky pass.

Forms

cairn · cairns

Similar words

monument
Any commemorative structure, while cairn specifically consists of piled stones.