Attractions

It's easy to experience much of what Devils Tower has to offer in less than a day. Rangers recommend that you allow 2 to 4 hours to walk a trail, stop at the visitor center, and view the prairie dogs.

Surrounded by ponderosa pines and bathed in blue sky, the towering rock obelisk is visible for miles, and it's easy to imagine the reaction of the first lonely American-Indian scouts and French fur trappers who stumbled upon this stunning geologic anomaly a few centuries ago. The paved 1.3-mile round-trip Tower Trail, rated easy, goes all the way around the formation, offering close-up views of the tower on fairly level ground. Wayside exhibits tell the Devils Tower story. It connects to the 1.5-mile Joyner Ridge Trail, which has some wide-open grassland that makes for a sublime view of the tower.

Home to the feisty black-tailed prairie dog, the grounds of Devils Tower National Monument are perfect for picnicking and viewing wildlife. You can watch the sociable prairie dogs in their colony, or "town," just inside the park's east entrance station. The critters excavate elaborate networks of underground passageways, then guard their burrows with warning "barks" when predators such as hawks, eagles, bullsnakes, coyote, red fox, and mink come too close. Walk the leisurely .6-mile round-trip Valley View Trail to see a prairie-dog town, or savor a picnic lunch among the wildflowers at the monument's picnic area on the banks of the sleepy Belle Fourche River.

At Day's End

Visitors to Devils Tower should take the time to stay a night, if only to watch the drama that unfolds at dusk. Head to Joyner Ridge via Joyner Ridge Rd., about 2.5 miles up the main road from the park entrance, with a picnic dinner on a nice night and just gaze at the tower and watch the moon rise. It also offers a tremendous vantage point to photograph the tower. There are also occasional guided full moon hikes here in the summer; contact the park for details.