Fans of Steven Spielberg will recognize this impressive geologic monolith — Devils Tower in northeastern Wyoming — as the site of the climatic final scenes of his 1977 sci-fi film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Neither of us had been to this part of the country and we decided on our way to Utah, that we had to stop and explore the area.

Devils Tower is the nation’s first National Monument, established on September 24, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. It is 867 feet from base to summit and is made of phonolite porphyry, a rare igneous rock. The top is roughly the size of a football field and has many plants and even wildlife. Native Americans have gathered and prayed at the Tower for thousands of years and we, indeed, felt transcended after visiting. It is truly a special place where history, flora and fauna have all converged for eons. If only the Tower could talk….

While planning our trip in January, we didn’t consider that we would be passing through this area on a weekend in early August. Not only were there a lot of families visiting, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally coincided with our visit, resulting in the Monument’s campground being closed so Rally attendees could camp there. We ended up staying at a KOA that was literally located right at the Park’s entrance gate.

We were up early on Saturday morning in order to enter the park and get an RV parking spot in the small visitor center parking lot at the base of the Tower. Parking is so limited that the Park Service recommends hiking to the visitor center from a lower parking lot that is 1.5 miles away and up a steep incline. So we decided not to eat breakfast before leaving the KOA, but to get our parking spot first and then have breakfast. That’s the freedom you gain when traveling with your kitchen. 😉

The park has five trails and since we had a five-night stay, we had time to hike all five trails.

The Tower Trail is the easiest and most popular. It is paved and circles the Tower for 1.3 miles and has modest elevation changes. It’s a must-do trail with great views of the tower but be sure to hike it early. By 10:30 AM the trail becomes very crowed, which tends to detract from the experience.

The Red Beds Trail is a 2.8 mile loop with moderate-to-steep elevation change. Bring your hiking sticks and boots as park of the trail is rocky and, if you were to slip off the trail, the fall could be significant. We encountered far fewer people on this trail and found ourselves alone in nature for long periods.

We also observed wildlife, including lots of red-headed woodpeckers, and were treated to great views of the Red Beds which were formed about 200 million years ago and contain iron-rich minerals that give the rock its distinctive red color.

Views from the Red Bed Trail

The Joyner Ridge Trail is at the northern boundary of the park and is accessed from a separate trailhead about a mile from the visitor center. It offers more great views of the Tower and hiking through a forested area.

The South Side and Valley View trails are connected, flat and short. These trails will take you through a large Prairie Dog town. We have visited quite a few Prairie Dog Towns over the past few years and typically find that most prairie dogs are quick to sound the alarm and duck into their burrows when hikers approach. However, the prairie dogs closest to the trail have become accustomed to visitors and provide lots of photo opportunities.

One popular activity that we did not participate in is climbing. We stared in amazement and with some dread as we watched climbers scale the Tower. Can you spot the climber?

We had so much fun at and were so moved by our visit to Devils Tower that Sue started writing this post before writing about a National Monument that we visited a week before! Look for a post regarding Gateway Arch National Park soon.

Thank you, as always, for following along.