An RV Trip to Devils Tower
If you thought you saw Devils Tower in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you haven't seen Devils Tower.
It's much more impressive, even without the Hollywood special effects aliens.
We made our RV trip Devils Tower National Monument from Gillette, WY, about 55 miles away. It's a great drive through lush and wide open Wyoming rangeland and prairie. There are two RV parks there, one from the National Parks Service, one from KOA. Both offer spectacular views of Devils Tower.
But we drove up to the visitor's center, parked our Roadtrek in a regular spot and spent a great afternoon. There is parking for larger RVs but it can be very tight and the area for big rigs often fills up.
Devils Tower is a monolith of rock that protrudes 1,200 feet above the the Belle Fourche River, standing all by itself, like a lone sentinel over the surrounding grassland. You start to see it from about 10 miles away and, at first, it doesn't look that impressive. Until you get up close to it. There is something mystical about it, spiritual even. Indeed, the site is considered sacred to the Lakota and other tribes that have a connection to the area. Prayer cloths, prayer bundles and ribbons are found throughout the area, attached to ponderosa pines by native Americans.
So many people just look at this monument from a distance, driving by. If you come here, don't do that. Hike the tower. There are several trails you can take but we opted for the 1.3 mile route that circles the tower. It goes up and down a lot and can be quite strenuous for those not used to exercise but there are lots of benches and places to sit and if you want to really experience the tower, you need to do this.
Take your time. Listen to the silence on the north side, away from the visitors center and the lone road leading to the tower. Smell the pines. See the wild flowers.
Look carefully at the tower. If you look close enough, you'll see moving specks on the tower. Those are rock climbers. Bring along a pair of binoculars. They will fascinate you. Hundreds of parallel cracks make the tower one of the finest traditional crack climbing areas in North America.
The tower was America's first national monument, designated by President Theodore Roosevelt under the 1906 Antiquities Act. Allow at least three hours to experience it.
No one knows for sure why its called Devils Tower. Some Indians called it Mato Tipila, meaning Bear Lodge. Other American Indian names include Bear’s Tipi, Home of the Bear, Tree Rock and Great Gray Horn. In 1875, on an expedition led by Col. Dodge, it is believed his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God's Tower, later shortened to Devils Tower.
The Lakota have a legend on how it came to be.
“One day, an Indian tribe was camped beside the river and seven small girls were playing at a distance. The region had a large bear population and a bear began to chase the girls. They ran back toward their village, but the bear was about to catch them. The girls jumped upon a rock about three feet high and began to pray to the rock, “Rock, take pity on us; Rock, save us.” The rock heard the pleas of the young girls and began to elongate itself upwards, pushing them higher and higher out of reach of the bear. The bear clawed and jumped at the sides of the rock, and broke its claws and fell to the ground. The bear continued to jump at the rock until the girls were pushed up into the sky, where they are to this day in a group of seven little stars (the Pleiades). The marks of the bear claws are there yet. As one looks upon the tower and contemplates its uniqueness, it isn't hard to imagine this legend as fact.” – from the Crook County, WY Pomotion board
On the way out, check out the prairie dogs. Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), to be precise. They once ranged the Great Plains from southern Saskatchewan to northern Mexico. Now, only in a few concntrated areas. Originally named “petits chiens,” or “little dogs,” by early French explorers, these highly social animals are not really dogs, but rodents. They are members of the Sciuridae or squirrel family, closely related to ground squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks and marmots. There are five different species of prairie dogs, but only the black-tailed prairie dog inhabits Devils Tower National Monument.
They're curious and will chatter warnings to you if you get to close. But they are fun to watch and are natural posers for your photos.
Interesting, that the name change had to degrade native culture.
It is a Spiritual Centre for the First Nation’s & definitely worth a Visit .
Following
One of my favorite places.
Thanks for visiting our beautiful state!
Yep so nice
My first Husband took me to the devils tower on the back of his motorcycle back in the 80’s. There was a mud slid on one of the hills before we got there, we went on in any way. On the way back we had to go past the same place we came in and it was up hill. We didn’t make it thru the slid for he dumped my butt on the side of the road after slipping and sliding we went down. No one was hurt but we sure were a muddy mess. I guest that is one reason they call it the devils Tower. LOL Good memories.
Doing this is now on my bucket list
Been there and hiked around the tower. People do climb the tower as well!
hi mike, can you show me the picture of the back of this roadtrek ? saw one on the far north coast a couple days ago . someone rented it out of the bay area and was driving north to Alaska with it . it was an ss . guess it didn’t have solar on top .
Kelli Eilerts Keller…………….does this rig look familiar????
Perfect!!
cool
That’s what I want…..
Took one for a test ride….very cool…..but alas, my new VW Bug and a tent will have to suffice!
This reminds me of my parents RV!
We also went to devils tower in 2012 !!! We didn’t want to leave !!! We loved the KOA RV park there !!!
want one
At 130,000 it’ll have to wait for now.
Anybody have a clue on how much one of these babies runs?
nice park
enjoy your blogs, we’re new to RVing and only have 3 small trips behind us, still learning. we buy audio books at garage sales for only 1.00 ea and those we enjoy while driving . Have also found some useful things for our RV at garage sales as well.
That’s it
Humberto García I want one!
Good ride
Darlene Love Wood
I could see myself driving this!!!
Sarah Gutierrez…follow this page. It shows small RV’s. Newer models. Give you some ideas.
Saw devils tower last year…
Great trip in a Roadtrek. Did it in 1996!
Gonna be us one day Patty Hansen! !
Awesome place!
Love it
Saw one of these in AuGres city park, was awesome
Awesome place
Been there , enjoyed it very much.
I want one
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=600462230052719
I camped at their campground once.
headed there this summer on way to Alaska
Kelli Eilerts Keller this looks like your rig !!!
This is the one that I would like to have.
That would be awesome to take my condo on wheels out west
camped right there one night and indians were having ceromonies there and well into the night. kinda different but very moving.
Would love one !!!!
Been there! About $85,000 new. $60,000 used.
Doo doo doo, doooooo doooooooo.
So about how much does one of these little rv van camper things cost? R there pics of inside? I’m finding then very intriguing …
So beautiful <3 <3 <3 <3
Visited there late May of last year . It was cool and raining .
Been there, done that in our Roadtrek!
Love it there just didnt get yo stay long enough
This is quite a site.
Been there with RV!
Hell yes I saw one just like this last weekend beautiful its perfect for my wife and I.
We checked into renting a small motor home for when my family comes to Utah thinking it would be cheaper than towing our big 5th wheel with the cost of fuel. $900 for a long weekend. At that price, we will stick to towing the 5th wheel!
we went there last summer =) so neat
I don’t want to buy one but would love to rent one for a couple of weeks! If anybody know if they rent them please post and let me know where, Thanks
I would love to travel in this
I think they are $100000 or more. Wow!
I want one! Will you buy me one? Probably cost more than my house!
with could get approved for one….
Can you rent these type small motor homes anywhere??
like
Just watched one of the Cosmos new series and Devil’s Tower was discussed including the legend of the 7 sisters and the bear (with illustration)
. Love this updated series.
Love “The Tower” and the area around it. For a great meal, try the Ponderosa in nearby Hullet
Devils tower is in out backyard–so to speak (a couple hours away). Every fall we try and spend time camped there. We stay in the KOA but I can cook a steak and have a bottle of wine with Devils Tower as my view and very few folks around. The fall colors are are just a big plus.
Yep, another place on the bucket list! Thanks!
Ha, I agree with Stu! And here I thought we would probably bypass Devil’s Tower on our trip. Now I’m thinking this is a place everyone would really be enthralled by! Thanks for another great one…
Great post, Now I have to go see this too. You keep writing these stories of places and my bucket list is going to overflow .
Thanks Mike for all the details….just one more thing to add to my bucket list.