We stayed at the campground along the Belle Fourche River ($10/night). It was a great setting, the enormous tower visible from the camp sites. There are no amenities, not even a dump, but it's peaceful and pretty. We felt relaxed and at peace. Perhaps it's due to the karma that enfolds this sacred landmark and spot visited by the native Indians for thousands of years.
It continues to be a sacred place even today, with annual gatherings and ceremonies held every June during the summer solstice. Over twenty American Indian tribes are associated with the Tower. Six of the nations, the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone, have lived in the area at some point in their history. American Indians use the Tower as a place of worship. Most of the ceremonies are private rituals for small groups or individuals, such as prayer, pipe ceremonies, and vision quests.
The indigenous names for the Tower are as varied as the tribes connected with the place. Names such as Bear's Tipi, Grizzly Bear's Lodge, and Bear Lodge are common.
So why Devils Tower? Col. Richard Dodge named it Devils Tower in 1875. He led the military expedition sent to confirm reports of gold in the Black Hills and to survey the area. In the book he wrote about his expedition, Dodge explained that the Indians called this shaft The Bad God's Tower, which he modified to Devils Tower.
The afternoon we arrived, we set up camp, then went off to the visitor center to learn more about the tower and what else there is to see. We arrived in overcast weather with occasional rain, though the weather improved during our two-day stay and we enjoyed warm, sunny, blue-sky days.
We hiked all the marked trails over the course of our 2-day stay. We started with the 1.5-mile Joyner Ridge Trail on the north side of the Tower which led into the Ponderosa Pine forest along a bluff, down into a ravine, and across a meadow. |
| views of the valley from the bluff along Joyner Ridge Trail |
We then followed with the 1.3-mile paved Tower Trail around the base, and stopped at various spots to look up at about a dozen climbers making their way up the columns.
In the late afternoon we walked the 1.5-mile trail around Prairie Dog Town, and watched lots of them pop up out of their burrows and squeal their warnings as we walked closer. Originally, prairie dogs inhabited most of the central plains area of the US. Today, their habitat has been reduced to roughly 2% of their original expanse.
 |
| the soil is perfect to dig burrows |
 |
| this little guy eyed me suspiciously while I took a photo |
On the second day we did a 4-mile hike from the campground around the Red Beds Trail that traces a larger circuit around the Tower, past cliffs of red-colored sedimentary rock and through the Ponderosa Pine forest.
 |
| view of the valley with the Belle Fourche River |
 |
| checking out the climbers |
Devils Tower's summit is 867 feet above the base at the visitor center, 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River in the valley, and 5,112 feet above sea level.
Its geologic origin began about 50 million years ago when molten magma was forced through the sedimentary layers overlying it. Whether the magma broke through the ground-level surface, at that time about 1.5 miles above the current level, thereby becoming a volcano, is disputed. But the plug of magma cooled deep below the surface, and as it cooled, cracks formed into the familiar hexagonal columns. Over millions of years the softer sedimentary layers above it were eroded away by wind and water, rather than glacial action as elsewhere, eventually exposing the Tower as it stands today. Erosion continues, and over future eons more of the Tower will be exposed.
We were able to see different aspects to the tower as we walked around it. Some areas look smoother, and in others, the columns have crumbled and lie in enormous chunks piled at the base.
We were entertained watching the progress of several climbers scaling the vertical face of the tower. It can take 4 to 6 hours to reach the football-field-size top. Later the same afternoon we saw the climbers walking at the top, then repelling down to the bottom. Records of Tower climbs have been kept since 1937. Some 5,000 climbers come every year from all over the world to climb the massive columns. And to entertain the onlookers on safe ground below!
In the campground, there is an interesting sculpture that depicts the Sacred Circle of Smoke.
 |
| Muto's sculpture |
Tomorrow we leave this sacred place to continue south to our final National Park destination on this tour, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Once again, we will divide the trip into two days' drive, with an overnight stop in Glendo, Wyoming.