Devils Tower - Devils Tower National Monument

During our August 2017 trip to the Dakotas, we made a quick trip to northeastern Wyoming to visit Devils Tower National Monument. To reach the tower from Interstate 90 in Sundance, take exit 185 and drive west on US-14 for 19 miles. Turn north onto Wyoming route 24 and drive another 6 miles. Then turn left onto WY-110 and drive about ½ mile to the fee collection station. WY-110 continues another 2.8 miles to the visitor center. Parking at the visitor center is very limited during the summer tourist season and is often at capacity by 10 AM. During the week of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, only two- and three-wheeled vehicles are allowed past the Administration Building. Shuttle buses provide access to the visitor center. 

Established on September 24, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt, Devils Tower was the first national monument. The tower was known to the native tribes as Bear Lodge, but it was mistranslated in 1875 as "bad god's tower" or devil's tower. 

Devils Tower is 867 feet high from its base to the summit. The base is 400 feet above the nearby Belle Fourche River. The summit is approximately 300 by 180 feet. The tower is a  laccolithic butte composed of igneous rock. Once molten lava, this rock cooled in two periods, first slowly and then much more quickly. This allowed both large crystals and much smaller crystals to form in the rock. As the rock solidified, it also shrank and left behind a pattern of hexagonal columns. The cracks between these columns allow climbers to scale the butte along a wide variety of routes.

View from state historic marker on Wyoming route 24

A closer view from the historic marker on WY-24 

View from WY-110

Devils Tower from the town of Devils Tower

View from the Joyner Ridge Trailhead

Another view from Joyner Ridge

Top of the tower

View from the visitor center

Another view from the visitor center

Another closeup view

Looking north from a pullout on WY-110

Another view from WY-110

An entrance fee of $15 admits all the passengers of a single vehicle for seven days to Devils Tower National Monument. Other entrance fee options include an Every Kid in a Park 4th Grade Pass for free and a variety of America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes providing access to most national park, national forest, and BLM fee areas

• Annual Pass for $80
• Military Pass for free
• Lifetime Senior Pass for $80 or $20 annually for those age 62 and older
• Access Pass for free for visitors with a permanent disability

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/deto.