Skip to main content

Wyoming Road Trip Day 6: Devils Tower National Monument


Today was Rapid City to Cheyenne via Devils Tower National Park.  The weather was definitely much colder than it was the first half of the trip - and the wind didn't help either.

Route: I-190, I-90, US 14, WY 24, US 14, I-90, WY 59, I-25

Photo Set on Flickr: Devils Tower National Monument

Devils Tower as seen from US 14.

Outside the entrance to Devils Tower National Monument at Wyoming State Highway 110.

If Rocky Mountain National Park amazed me, Devils Tower National Monument inspired me.  From the moment it first came into view on US 14 - and during my hike around the tower - I continually was in awe of it.

Devils Tower rises 867 from its base and 1267' above the Belle Fourche River.

Native American names for Devils Tower include Bear's Lodge or Bear's House.

Devils Tower is the United States' first national monument.  The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorized the President of the United States "to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected."

"The Window" 

Devils Tower is the largest example of columnar jointing in the world.

The establishment of Devils Tower as a National Monument came from efforts led by Wyoming Senator Francis E. Warren and Congressman Frank W. Mondell.  Their efforts resulted in President Theodore Roosevelt declaring Devils Tower as the first National Monument on September 24, 1906.  This designation preserved the natural wonder from any future development.

Rock climbing is a popular activity at Devils Tower.

At the park, I did the 1.3 mile paved Tower Loop Trail.  This trail runs the closest to the tower - and during Summer months is the most popular.  With it being November, I pretty much had the entire hike to myself.  It seemed like along every step, I found a new vantage point, a new detail, a new majesty to see.


I took so many photos that it did allow me to try various filters, settings, etc. in Lightroom.  As you can tell, I got carried away. 

There are plenty of other trails at Devils Tower - many through the prairie and along the Belle Fourche River.  These trails offer more distanced views of the tower and include the entire prairie landscape.  Of course, there are numerous rock climbing trails on the tower itself.

The trip back to Cheyenne was another great example of the openness of Wyoming.

Wyoming 59 is pretty much a straight shot connecting Gillette and Douglas.  Other than a town called Bill, it is wide open with more windmills than services along the 100 or so miles between the two towns.

Windmills and snow along Wyoming 59.


Interstate 25 South offered a lot of scenery - and on this day a lot of wind.  Stopping at the Rest Area at US 18 in Orin was quite blustery.  



We got into Cheyenne about 3:30 or so.  Again, I was exhausted to really go out and explore the town.  We did stop at a local brewery for pizza and a beer and drove around town a little bit.  Cheyenne seems like a great small town that I'd like to see more of.  



Photos not watermarked - taken by post author.

2021 Wyoming Road Trip Site Navigation:

Also at Gribblenation:




Comments

Unknown said…
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL TRIP!! I LOVE WYOMING!! BEEN THERE A COUPLE TMES!! A MUST SEE!!!
THANKS, ENJOY YOUR TRIP! AND BE SAFE!!

Popular posts from this blog

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre