Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming

 

Devil’sTower National Monument was proclaimed the first National Monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. (If you’re thinking, no, you’re wrong – it was Yellowstone – nope – that’s a national park!)

It’s a fairly easy drive to the monument, about 40-minutes along a paved road. There is a $10 entrance fee (free if you have a National Park Pass). A small Visitor’s Center is open with a small informative area about how Devil’s Tower was formed (it’s not agreed upon), as well as a small gift shop.  There are few hiking trails which loop around the tower, and we chose Tower Trail - the short, paved, 1.3 mile trail that brings you to the base of the Tower itself.  There were great views along this trail, including those of climbers (of which there are about 5,000 every year from all around the world).

• The Tower rises 867 feet from its base, stands 1,267 feet above river and 5,112 feet above sea level.
• The top is tear-drop shaped and is 1.5 acres (about the length of a football field).
• The base has a diameter of 1000 feet.
• The Steven Spielberg movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed here. Having never seen the movie, we watched it the previous night – we thought it was terrible! However, we thought it was interesting that there is no mention made of this movie at all a the Tower – nothing in the Visitor’s Center, placards along the trail, nothing.

 This was a very cool stop along our travels ~ a definite “must do” when in the area!

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