When we left the Badlands, we thought we’d go to Yellowstone. One of the benefits of not being on a fixed schedule is that you can change and add to your agenda. That’s what happened on the way out of the Badlands. Adding to our stops, we looked at going to Devil’s Tower.
Devil’ Tower isn’t exactly on the way from Badlands to Yellowstone, it was a detour worth taking.
Driving Up to Devil’s Tower
The Devil’s Tower National Monument is run by the National Parks and it, along with the surrounding park area, takes up about 2 square miles. It is set in the flat land near the Black Hills, in Wyoming. This is by way of explaining that the drive up to the Tower is spectacular because it stands out so well from its surroundings. From the distance, you see Devil’s Tower.
Devil’s Tower Up Close
Once in Devil’s Tower Monument, the road winds around the base eventually bringing you up to the parking area.
We were fortunate to visit on a clear, brilliantly blue day. The image is wonderful, but doesn’t do justice to the experience of being there.
Once up to the parking area, there are a couple of options for walking around the monument. The short one sticks close to the base and is paved. The other takes you further afield and gives you more view points. Either way, you end up with a spectacular experience.
You may even see climber in the side of the Tower. There were dozens when we went there.
Something I learned the seems obvious when you are close up is that Devil’s Tower is not really a monolithic structure. The Tower is made up of igneous hexagonal “tubes,” up to about ten feet in diameter. Formed from cooling magma, the tubes are jointed together.
You can see the gaps in the side of the tower where parts of tube break away. This creates ‘windows’ where parts of the broke tube falls away, leaving the surrounding tubes intact to form the “window”.
The National Parks has a page on the formation of the Tower. It’s very interesting.
Visiting Devil’s Tower Monument
The Tower is awesome. When you go, plan to take your time. Not just for hiking the Tower, but also for getting to it. Parking is limited, so there is a line that feels like it stretches forever. Be patient. Also note that you may pay on your way out of the park, not when arriving. Seemed odd to me, but it worked out well.
If you have a National Parks pass, exiting will be much easier. They walked the line of cars waiting to pay to leave, saw our pass tag and waved us around the line. Along with all the other parks, having it for easy entrance and exit was the best perk of the pass.
Next stop, Yellowstone a drive into late night away.