Devils Tower National Monument - June 2017



Once you get through Badlands National Park and into the Black Hills, there are so many adventures to consider.  We stayed our first night in Rapid City at the Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza.  This was a great location that was close to the downtown area that has the statues of each American president on street corners.  We walked up and down the streets and had fun taking some pictures with our favorites (JFK and Lincoln pictured below).


Our next stop was Devils Tower National Monument which is just north west of Rapid City.  DTNM is actually in Wyoming so it was exciting for our family to travel into a new state that day.  It is a very scenic drive with multiple climbs and twisting roads.  We took I90 to Hwy 24 which took us through Belle Fourche and Hulett.  There were a few time where we could see the Tower peeking out across the landscape and it was fun to try and catch a glimpse of it.  We arrived just before lunch and there was a line to get up to the visitor center...


It's about three miles from the entrance to the Visitor Center.  We saw lots of prairie dogs along the ride.  There are also multiple parking lots and pullouts for picture taking or you can hike a trail up to the VC.  We were fortunate enough to get a parking location near the VC.  Unfortunately, there is not a good place in this area for picnicking but we just spread out a blanket and made it work - along with quite a few other families.  The younger kids and grandma and grandpa explored and climbed around by the VC while I, Susan, Anna, and Paul started the hike around the Tower.



The Tower Trail is 1.3 miles long and takes you all the around the base of Devils Tower.  There are interpretive exhibits along the trail and some amazing views of both the Tower and the surrounding land.



We also saw some wildlife including this beautiful deer.


 Anna hike up the rocks a little bit.  Our neighbor has actually climbed the Tower before and we also saw some climbers scaling it while we were there.  Quite a feat - especially when you see it in person!



Devils Tower is very striking and awesome against the Wyoming sky.  It's definitely worth the trip and I would highly recommend taking the 1.3 mile Tower Trail in order to see it from all sides.  We were there for about 3 hours including lunch before heading south and back down to Custer, SD for more adventures!





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