September 14, 2021

DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT

WY-110, Devils Tower, WY 82714

“Devils Tower is a butte, possibly laccolithic, composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills, near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet from summit to base.” - Wikipedia

As I was planning my route from Custer, SD to Glacier National Park in Montana, I saw that Devils Tower would be on the way, so I decided to make it a stop. The 2-hour drive from Custer was, of course, very beautiful. It is interesting to me how quickly the terrain changes. As I got closer to Devils Tower I really wasn’t that excited, even when I caught sight of the monument about five miles out, I was thinking it isn’t that impressive. My campground is right outside the gate to the park, and the line of vehicles waiting to get into the park was long and slow moving. Luckily, I could get out of the line and pull into the campground to avoid the long wait. Pulling into my camp site the monument was right in front of me, the photographer in me starting thinking this is going to be an awesome sunrise picture!

After getting set up at my camp site, I decided to venture into the park. The line was still quite long, but a nice couple let me in line ahead of them. I was not impressed with the National Park Service part of this park. There was one lane to get in, not only one lane open, there was only ONE lane. Everybody had to stop at the gate and pay the admission or show a pass. This was the second week of September, I wonder what the line was like a month ago in the height of family vacation season. From the glimpses of the monument on the three-mile drive to the visitors center I started realizing just how impressively big the tower is. Finding a parking spot at the visitors center was a little challenging (again, I wasn’t very impressed with the park), but I eventually found one and made my way towards the visitors center, stopping to snap a few photos on the way. It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and the visitors center was closed. I found out later they closed on Labor Day for the season (adding to my disappointment in the park, not the monument).

Walking along I heard people talking excitedly, like something was happening. I looked to where others were looking and I saw two people scaling the tower. I had read about people climbing the tower, but didn’t expect to see anyone today. It was interesting to watch their progress as I also explored the area.

I took the 1.3-mile Tower Trail, a paved trail that goes around the base of the tower. There were some great views of the tower and the surrounding area along the trail. It was interesting to see how the rock formations seemed to change as I progressed around the base. When I finished the trail, I got my telephoto lens out and took some pictures of the climbers. About an hour-and-a-half after arriving I was ready to head to the RV, having seen everything I wanted to see.

While I wasn’t impressed with the park setup, I am really glad I experienced Devils Tower.