Skip to main content

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 10; Devil's Tower National Monument

By
After joining I-90/US 14  westbound in Spearfish I headed into Wyoming.  My next destination was Devil's Tower National Monument in Crook County.


Part 9 of this blog series can be found here:

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 10; Devil's Tower National Monument

My route to Devil's Tower was via US 14 after the split from I-90 in Sun Dance, WY 24, and WY 110.  From a distance on WY 24 Devil's Tower first comes into view from the highway.


WY 24 is a mostly east/west highway but has a minor northward jog towards the Belle Fourche River and WY 110.  Devil's Tower is accessed from WY 24 by taking WY 110 into the National Monument Boundary about 3 miles in a loop to the Visitor Center.







Devil's Tower National Monument is a 867 foot butte made of laccolith that for a lack of a better word "towers" over the surrounding the terrain.  Devil's Tower is thought to have been formed by volcanic intrusion forcing igneous rock through sedimentary rock.  The Devils' Tower is part of the Bear Lodge Mountains which is a sub-range of the much larger Black Hills region.  Devil's Tower was set aside as a National Monument in 1906 but became something a popular culture icon thanks to being featured in the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Devil's Tower is a surprisingly small National Monument.  The Tower Trail completely circles Devil's Tower but the best views are near the visitor center on the western flank. 





After leaving Devil's Tower National Monument I continued east on WY 24 towards South Dakota.  WY 24 largely follows the course of the Belle Fourche River to Hulett where the junction with WY 112 is located.  WY 24 picks up a junction with WY 111 in the village of Aladdin. 




Aladdin was a coal mining town that was founded in the 1890s.  During it's peak Aladdin had a population of about 200 residents which had declined to an advertised 15 back in 2016.  There was only one open business in Aladdin which seems to have multiple duty as a Post Office, gas station, general store, and mineral shop.





I continued on WY 24 to the South Dakota State Line where the roadway becomes SD 34 in Butte County.  My stay for the night was on Belle Fourche on US 85 near the junction with US 212.  My next stop the following morning was Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota on the back end of a long haul on US 85.

Part 11 of this series can be found here:

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 11; Lonely US Route 85 in South Dakota and North Dakota
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

California State Route 232

By
This past month I drove the entirety of California State Route 232 in Ventura County. CA 232 is an approximately 4 miles State Highway aligned on Vineland Avenye which begins near Saticoy at CA 118 and traverses southwest to US Route 101 in Oxnard.  The alignment of CA 232 was first adopted into the State Highway System in 1933 as Legislative Route Number 154 according to CAhighways.org. CAhighways.org on LRN 154 As originally defined LRN 154 was aligned from LRN 9 (future CA 118) southwest to LRN 2/US 101 in El Rio.  This configuration of LRN 154 between CA 118/LRN 9 and US 101/LRN 2 can be seen on the 1935 California Division of Highways Map of Ventura County. 1935 Ventura County Highway Map According to CAhighways.org the route of LRN 154 was extended west from US 101/LRN 2 to US 101A/LRN 60 in 1951.  Unfortunately State Highway Maps do not show this extension due to it being extremely small. During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering LRN 154 was assigned CA 232.  Of n
Post a Comment
Read more

One Long Drive - Allegheny County's Orange Belt

By
When I trace my early interest in traveling and the hobby of roadgeeking, I always go back to where I grew up. Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA 48, and the Orange Belt. I grew up on Route 48 in Elizabeth Township on the Orange Belt. One of my family's favorite stories of me growing up is when I was around three years old - so 1980 - I told one of my aunts, "It's not that hard to get to our house - we live on the Orange Belt!"  The Allegheny County Belt System is one of the many things that are uniquely Pittsburgh. A series of existing roadways - minor and major - developed in post-World War II Allegheny County to navigate the region. Never intended to be a "beltway" in the modern sense - a full freeway encircling a city - the Allegheny County system is more like a wayfinding system connecting you throughout the county. It is uniquely Pittsburgh - it's been asked about , written about , and videoed .  On a recent visit home, I decided to drive the entire
3 comments
Read more

Mosquito Road Bridge

By
The Mosquito Road Bridge is a wooden suspension span crossing the South Fork American River of El Dorado County.  The Mosquito Road Bridge incorporates elements in it's foundation which date back to 1867 making it likely the oldest highway bridge in California still is in service for it's original purpose.  The Mosquito Road Bridge can be found approximately 6.5 miles northeast of downtown Placerville.    Author's Note; Gribblenation's 2,000th published blog This blog serves as the 2,000th published entry on the Gribblenation blog site.  Ironically the the 2,000th blog entry closely aligns with the 20th anniversary of Gribblenation.  Adam and Doug recently discussed the history of Gribblenation on the Gribblenation 20th Anniversary Podcast: https://anchor.fm/gribblenation/episodes/Gribblenation-20th-Anniversary-Podcast-ep2nh8 For my own part I (Tom) have been part of Gribblenation since late 2016, it has been an honor to be part of one of the longest lived highway pages
Post a Comment
Read more