October 4 Devil’s Tower to Rapid City

It’s in the fifties today and we’re glad we persevered. The sun comes out making it a perfect day for exploring. We take an early morning walk to the “Circle of Smoke” sculpture that perfectly frames the tower. A herd of deer and a rafter of wild turkeys mingle with us.

The Tower is considered a sacred site by the Northern Plains Tribes. 

This sculpture honors the American people as a gesture of world peace by sculptor Junkyu Muto. It was designed to help raise awareness of the importance of Devils Tower to over 20 affiliated tribes. It also represents the first puff of smoke from a newly lit pipe.

After breakfast we take the Valley View Trail across a broad meadow and set the prairie dogs barking in alarm. One or two brave lookouts announce our presence while the others duck for cover.

The adjoining Red Beds Trail takes us to a red rock overlook. Quite the view of rock and river.

But the best trail of the day commences at the visitor center and circumvents the Tower itself. The 1.3 mile paved Tower Trail was built initially in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. 

Exhibits along the way provide information about the Tower, the landscape, the flora and fauna and the historic events, which have taken place here. Walking the trail allows us to completely circle the Tower while viewing it from multiple perspectives. 

There are views of forest and plains and the Belle Fourche River. If we look closely we can see remnants of a wooden ladder used in 1893 by a group of climbers whose wives stayed below selling refreshments.

Surrounded by boulder fields and ponderosa pines, no two sides of the Tower are alike.  One side is smooth, one features eroded columns, a third has fallen broken columns, a prediction of the eventual fate of the Tower.

Named a national monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt, Devils Tower stands 867 feet from its base. The flat area on top measures 1.5 acres. The diameter at its base is 1000 feet. The process that formed the Tower began around 50 million years ago. Magma injected into layers of sedimentary rock one and a half miles beneath the earth's surface. It has taken millions of years to erode away the sedimentary rock to expose the Tower scientists agree is an igneous intrusion.

After a pleasant morning of hiking and sunshine we drive onward to position ourselves for tomorrow’s adventures.

PS: Wyoming highways are not the greatest. A small tax base must not provide for much maintenance. It is worth a note that barriers are in place to completely close I-90 in blizzard conditions. Serious business.

Lodging:

Lake Park Campground

2850 Chapel Lane

Rapid City, SD