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When we took a trip to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore, we decided to make a day trip out to see some surrounding states, just to say we’d been there. Who knew when we’d be back? On this day trip from Keystone, South Dakota, we drove to North Dakota, Montana, and ended up in Wyoming to see Devils Tower. (For people into punctuation, the site officially drops the possessive apostrophe in the title of the monument.)
Why Did We Go to Devils Tower?
I’ll be honest; I wouldn’t have even known about Devils Tower if it hadn’t been for the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Richard Dreyfuss. I’d seen the movie a few times growing up, so that’s what I associated with this National Monument, the first National Monument declared in the U.S. by President Theodore Roosevelt, to be exact. If you haven’t seen the movie, you need to get on that.
Visiting Devils Tower
As we approached Devils Tower, we could see it in the distance for a while. That certainly builds up excitement for our crew.
When we arrived at the park, we saw that there was a KOA campground if you are interested in that. We had our base in Keystone to return to, so we just drove on by. The park is designed so that you can drive around Devils Tower and see it from several vantage points.
Along the way, there is a visitor’s center that provides information and a gift shop. We did this first since we didn’t want the visitor’s center to close before we could make it inside. We did arrive in the area in the late afternoon.
You can also take advantage of the trails from this area. Since Kristin had been in the car for a while, this was a great opportunity for her to get some energy out.
And maybe climb on some rocks.
You can take a trail around the entire monument, but we weren’t sure if we really had time for that. If you’re into actual rock climbing, we did see three people doing that.
Devils Tower and American Indians
In the visitor’s center, you can learn more about the American Indian stories surrounding Devils Tower. This area is sacred to several tribes, and theses tribes had their own origin stories for how Devils Tower came to be. Of course, none of the tribes referred to the monument as Devils Tower. They had their own names including some that translated to Bear’s Tipi, Bear’s Lodge, and Tree Rock, among others.
I find the bear titles the most fascinating because many of the origin stories include a bear, and often a really large bear, that made the “scratches” on the surface of the monument.
My favorite is the Kiowa story which involves seven girls who were playing near their village. As they played, bears chased them. When they ran, they jumped on a rock and prayed to be saved. The rock grew, and the bears could only scratch the sides of the rock as it rose higher and higher. The rock rose so high that the girls became stars, the Pleiades, that shine over the rock in the winter. The Kiowa refer to the rock as Tree Rock.
Several tribes still practice rituals and ceremonies there today. The American Indian people associated with the area are the Lakota, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Crow, and Kiowa. When you explore the area, you’ll probably see prayer cloths tied to branches of trees. The site does ask that you not disturb these cloths and offerings.
So how did a place commonly referred to as a place where bears live or a large tree grows come to be known as Devils Tower? Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dodge referred to the place as “Bad God’s” Tower in his journal in 1875, but likely it was a translation issue. Eventually, the area was known as Devils Tower, and that’s the name that was used when it became a National Monument in 1906.
As we left the Devils Tower area, I took this picture. This part of Wyoming is stunning, and I loved the expanse of it all; the land goes on forever. I can imagine that American Indians in the region felt the same.
I used this source to help me remember what I learned:
“Devils Tower National Monument (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm.
Want to read more about our adventures on this trip? Click the links below.
Laura Ingalls Wilder–Ingalls Homestead in De Smet
24 Comments
Very neat! I love the folklore stories…especially the one about the Pleiades seven sisters. We missed Devil’s Tower when we visited the Black Hills area. I guess we have yet another reason to go back now! 🙂
I know what you mean! It seems like you can never see everything in an area. It’s great to have a reason to go back!
So cool! I love the shot from the distance, that would be really interesting to see it getting larger as you get closer.
What a gem! I never knew this existed either – we’re definitely going to have to check it out. I also love the story of the girls becoming stars… beautiful!
I haven’t been here yet but it looks awesome!
I’ve never been to Wyoming…would love to see this!
Wow! Total flashback to when I was a kid! How cool!
I love the stories of how Devil’s Tower came to be. The seven girl’s from the town story is particularly good.
Our world is unique and beautiful! Such a cool place it is the artwork of God.
Gorgeous pictures! Added to my bucketlists!
Thank you!
Oh man, it looks like you had a great time! I’ve never heard of this place but you’ve definitely spiked my interest to look into it.
I love the picture of the Wyoming landscape at the end of your day. What a beautiful part of the world!
I agree!
Cool!! This looks like something worth seeing for sure! Will have to add it to the list, we have decided we wanted to try and see all 50 states so this will be a good excuse to start.
We went to Mount Rushmore last fall but didn’t have time to make it out to Devil’s Tower. We will have to save this for a future trip.
How awesome! I’m familiar with that landmark because of the Close Encounters movie. I’ve ne ee been to that part of the US. It looks beautiful!
I have this on a bucket list trip to do with my husband where we’ll do Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Devil’s Tower, Mt Rushmore, Wind Cave National Park, Badlands National Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Battle of Little Bighorn. We wanted to do it this summer, but we might have to wait until next year.
This place is cool. I did not know that it was in the movies. Makes sense.
We want to visit Devils Tower one day, hopefully soon! I love the stories about it.It’s so very interesting.
I love devils tower. I’ve visited it a few times on cross country trips. Each time is as good as the first time!
I really enjoyed your post-especially about the history and Kiowa story. Thank you!
The Devil’s Tower looks really cool. I hadn’t even heard about it until today, let alone that it was the first national monument declared in the US.
I think it’s really cool how people still come to this site for prayer and worship. My favourite story, by the way, is the Kiowa one about the Pleiades.
Great photos. I live in New Mexico, and oddly, just traveled through Wyoming in 2018! But, I did not see this famous sight. It looks amazing in your photos. I need to get there! Thank you!