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Devil's Tower National Monument Description
Devil's Tower National Preserve (Devil's Tower National MonumentDevil's Tower is a monolith in the state of Wyoming, and was the first National Preserve in the United States, signed by President Roosevelt, Sr. Even though it is located in Wyoming, Devil's tower is actually closer to South Dakota's Black hills area, so it is actually more suitable to be part of your driving itinerary with South Dakota's attractions, just 2 hours drive from Rapid city. It is only 2 hours drive from Rapid city. It takes only 2 hours to drive from Rapid city.Badlands National Parkand North Dakota.Roosevelt National ParkAfter that, a drive to the Devil's Tower was arranged.
The Devil's Tower has risen out of nowhere on the plains, and you can see the whole tower before you even enter the entrance, how big is it? Its top is 55 * 90 square meters, about the size of a soccer field, and its height is 264 meters. In addition to this huge rock, the entire reserve also includes the surrounding forest and the Belle Fourche River.
It takes about 10 minutes to get to the parking lot from the entrance, which is at the foot of the rock. There is a visitor center at the entrance, so it's a good idea to come in and learn about it first. The visitor center explains the formation of the Devil's Tower and the history of the neighborhood. According to the local Indian legend, seven Indian princesses were attacked by a black bear while they were playing and climbed up the trunk of the tree that later became the Devil's Tower. The straight line of cracks that we can see on the outside of the Devil's Tower is, in the myth, the marks that the black bear scratched out. The Devil's Tower later became a sacred site for the Indians.
In fact, the reason for the formation of the Devil's Tower is that it was originally a volcano, and the magma from the volcano surged upwards out of the ground but did not spew out, instead it hit the red clay rock layer around the periphery, and when it cooled down, it formed the huge basalt rock that we see now, and the fissures around the periphery were formed by contraction during the cooling down process. Originally, there was a layer of red clay sedimentary rock around the perimeter, but after millions of years the exposed sedimentary rock has been eroded by weathering and disappeared, thus becoming the Devil's Tower we see now.
Tower's trail
The main trails in the Devil's Tower area are Tower's trail and Red beds trail. Generally speaking, people take the paved Tower's trail that circles around the base of the Devil's Tower, which is 1.3 miles long and generally gentle enough for adults and children to walk, but there are some narrower places and some slopes. However, some parts of the trail are a bit narrower and there are still some inclines. Although it is a circle, we found that it is best to climb counterclockwise, if we climbed clockwise, it would be steeper.
The trail is just a simple loop, not specifically marked on the map, but I think the best viewpoints are not far from the trail entrance, no matter whether you walk clockwise or counterclockwise, the first viewpoint you come across will be able to see the entire devil tower. this is the first point when you walk clockwise.
If you walk counterclockwise, you will come to this position, in fact, this is the closest to the entrance, so if you don't have time to walk the whole trail, remember to walk counterclockwise for a short distance to this place. The crack in the exterior is called boulder field, and the light is better in this direction at sunset.
If you have time, you can walk around the trail to the back of the steeper side. The Devil's Tower is actually surrounded by forests, and most of the area can be considered as forest trails, which are quite comfortable to walk on. As the time changes, the light in different directions also changes a lot.
The reverse is also where the bear crawls in the painting depicting Indian lore.
If you are serious about walking through the Devil's Tower, there are a few other things worth noting. For example, about halfway down the tower is a crack called The Window, and if it's sunrise in the morning, you can see a deep shadow from the light shining through it, just like a window.
There have been attempts to climb to the top since ancient times, and we can still see on the backside the wooden ladder that was set up by the early expedition teams to the top, and there is a telescopic tube placed here for us to look at, which you need to be very careful to see.
If you're tired of seeing the Devil's Tower, the valley view point at the midpoint offers a spectacular view of the plains and the Belle Fourche River below.
Other Nearby Attractions
- North Dakota Self-drive Itinerary] Theodore Roosevelt National Park 3 Days Tour, Medora Accommodation Food Tips
- South Dakota Self-drive Itinerary】What to do in South Dakota, 5 Days Tour, Accommodation, Food Tips and Tricks
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