After leaving the northern part of Custer State Park (still quivering after the Needles Highway drive!) we continued west and stopped for the night at a fantastic, secluded National Forest Service campground called Rueter, just north of Sundance, Wyoming (yes, the Sundance Kid was named after this spot). There was just one other set of tenters at the campground – a young honeymooning couple. We set up our new barbecue and grilled steaks for breakfast the next morning. Life is turning out to be pretty “rough” on the road!

Our goal was Devils Tower National Monument, just north of Sundance. Devils Tower was the first National Monument in the NPS – established in 1906. It is still part of the Black Hills ecosystem. It’s also a popular spot for rock climbers. You may recognize it as Steven Spielberg’s location choice for Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Devils Tower is a sacred butte to many of the Northern Plains Indian tribes (who oppose climbing the rock). Many Native stories involve bears – and at this site, the vertical lines look like a bear had clawed at the rock.

We approached via Highway 14 from the south, came up over a ridge and there it was in the distance. Even though it was still quite far away, it was much more sudden and breathtaking than either of us expected.

Up close, it is even more impressive: 1,558 metres high with sheer sides. Jo hiked the 2-km Tower Trail circling the base. The first half of the trail was busy but the last part was almost deserted – the lovely sound of the wind whistling through the ponderosa pines, chipmunks scurrying everywhere, birds chirping. Along the way, bright prayer flags or bundles were tied to tree branches.

Here’s your geology primer for the site: The tower is composed of igneous rock formed 1.5 miles below the surface, when the magma pushed up through the sedimentary rock layers about 50 million years ago. The rest is erosion, which stripped away the softer layer of sedimentary rock, leaving the cylinder-shaped igneous intrusion.

Fun fact: Parts of Close Encounters of the Third Kind were filmed at the grassy knoll close to the boulder field at the base of the tower. But, most of it was shot inside a Goodyear hangar in Mobile, Alabama.

Did you know: A National Park is established by an Act of Congress; A National Monument is established by Presidential order?

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