Things to do in the Black Hills – Take a trip to Devil’s Tower!
I know – not exactly your “in the Black Hills” attraction, but Devil’s Tower National Monument is only about an hour and a half away. Add it to your day trip list! (just not during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally…)
Devil’s Tower is a unique and head scratching rock jutting out of the earth. We were using what service we could find to google the how’s and why’s and more. Quite the interesting story and science behind the formation of the monument. It was the first National Monument (declared so by Teddy Roosevelt) and has some acclaim from the sci-fi movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind“.
In addition, the long cracks have made it a mecca for rock climbers. I’m talking about those serious rock climber guys – with ropes and gear and a whole lot of guts. If rock climbing is your thing, check out more information about climbing Devil’s Tower here. Be aware there is an entrance fee, just like any other National Park.
Devil’s Tower also shares a spiritual significance to the Native American people. In fact, the National Park has agreed to honor this significance with a ‘voluntary no climb” request during the month of June. You will also notice varying cloths hanging from trees around the Tower.
OK! Enough back information!
We began the day with the normal miscommunication of who is picking up who when – as we made this Father’s Day trip a 
family event. Packing into 2 cars we headed out for another Black Hills summer adventure. (shouldn’t there be some theme music here or something??)
I imagined to see this rock formation just explode out of nowhere. But it’s actually surrounded by other trees and hills – very similar to the Black Hills.
As we got closer, we stopped and snapped a couple of pictures from the road. Finally getting through the entrance gate, there was a prairie dog town as you went up the hill. At the top of the hill, we parked the car and pulled out our lunch we packed before we began the walk around the rock.
Now – I had been to the tower as a teenager, and seem to remember this really easy walk on this blacktop path where we had our conversations as we nonchalantly walked around the tower.
That must have been a long time ago. While the path was blacktop, there were certainly some areas that required some effort getting up and around. (except for our teenage boys, of course) My sister brought her 1 year old daughter with, and managed to stroll her in the stroller all the way around. I also didn’t remember the pile of rocks on the front part of the tower…how can a bunch of guys say no to climbing some rocks??
Along the way were benches for resting, views off the distance, and magnifying scopes at certain places to showcase certain features of the tower.
After the walk was done (it probably took us an hour and a half…), we stopped for ice cream at the KOA general store. Because that’s just what needed to be done!
If you go, don’t forget to bring plenty of water and plenty of time to walk around the tower….and take breaks, relax and enjoy the views!