Devil’s Tower looms large in American cinema, and like a lot of people who come to the Black Hills for more than a couple of days, we were intrigued by that giant rock monolith about a hundred miles away in Wyoming. An easy day trip that can be taken in part as a scenic drive through Wyoming’s gorgeous eastern ranch country, this was a treat.
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We started our day at our Stockade Lake Camping Cabin in Custer State Park and drove west through Custer into Wyoming via Highway 16 into the coal town of Newcastle. From there we drove north on Highway 85, which is very, very scenic – evocative in the spring of alpine valleys of the Alps, without the snowcapped peaks. 85 took us to a junction with 585 (north/west) in high cattle country, still very scenic but transitioning into buttes and more sudden outcroppings rather than carefully sculpted valleys.
Be on the lookout for antelope. 585 lands you in Sundance, where I-90 passes through. Sundance has the usual services including gas and a Subway sandwich shop that also doubles as a florist and a gift shop, just in case you need a ham sandwich and an anniversary present at the same time.
From Sundance, you’ll follow the signs and take Highway 14 north/west to Highway 24 and from there, Devil’s Tower. About halfway from Sundance you’ll start to see it. The great thing about Devil’s Tower is that it announces itself from afar; on a nice day, you star seeing it in peeks as you wind through more beautiful, hilly cattle country scattered with streams and trees and in the spring, verdant grasses in all directions. A few miles before the park is a pullout that causes cars to suddenly veer off the road for the first really good look at this shaft of rock:
As we drove closer, we looked for dead cows or other signs the federal government might be trying to dissuade us from making our pilgrimage. As this was a no-aliens-in-town sort of day, our way forward was clear, and around every curve the monolith looked a little different:
At the park entry station, the mountain loomed large. So did the traffic on a day in early June when other tourist areas in South Dakota had been very lightly populated – indicating to me that at the peak of high season, getting into Devil’s Tower might be tricky. It turns out parking at the top (er, I mean the base, no they don’t let you park at the top, even with a flying car) is very, very limited and filled up while we were there. Don’t let this dissuade you, though. As long as you’re not there during the Sturgis Rally, as long as you’re patient you’ll eventually get in, and it’s worth it. See the NPS “Plan Your Visit” page for details, including a picture of the traffic on a Sturgis day.
Once we got to the Monument, the small visitor’s center had helpful rangers, a couple of bathrooms, and nowhere to buy food. Luckily we had our Subway sandwiches from Sunrise. The small commercial area just before the entry station did have some options, but we were glad we’d planned ahead. There are a number of interesting views of this mountain – which is a magma intrusion that may or may not have been the core of a volcano, or the remnants of a dispute between a really big bear and seven Native American girls who correspond to the Pleides, depending on who you ask – right from the main visitor area. The first is the Patriotic View, in which we let the aliens know just who’s boss around here, at least at the moment:
My personal favorite is Bathroom View, which can be seen from the ladies bathroom just below the visitor’s center:
Once you’re there, don’t be one of the lazy tourists you’ll see lounging around who don’t do the circular path. It turns out they have a few trails up here, and one goes right around the base. It’s only a little over a mile, only steep in very short sections, and is a wonderful walk. Not only do you see the Tower and its massive rock debris from many different angles, there are varying views of the wider landscape, including the nearby river winding through it’s valley.
Along the way you may see colored ribbons attached to trees – these are prayer flags left by Native Americans who come here for spiritual reasons. The mountain is an important spiritual site to multiple tribes. Don’t remove the flags and for those of you who love to climb, observe the moratoriums on rock climbing in certain areas of the monument in June.
Around the back of the trail on the day we were there, the wind whisped the clouds in interesting ways. As most tourists are lazy, the trail was relatively quiet, and we stopped to watch the clouds spray from behind the tower.
The monument is not limited to the rock itself. there are trails at the bottom that wind through meadows and prairie dog towns. We stopped by one and watched the little rodents chirping to each other and minding their little ones. As we did, a group of hikers marched through on a trail in the field without stopping:
They missed the big show:
Always good to go for a hike, but don’t forget to look around. Finally, as we exited the monument I grabbed what appears to be an obsession of mine, a rear-view-mirror photo reminding me of what I’d just left behind:
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