Devil’s Tower is a convenient stop when driving west to Yellowstone. The first national monument, it was made famous by the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. There are several trails around the tower that go through well-preserved forests.
I stayed at the Belle Fourche River Campground inside the monument, which was close to the tower. I arrived before sunset, so had time to walk around the tower. The next morning I went for another walk around the tower before starting on my long drive to Red Lodge, Montana.
A fun surprise were the prairie dog towns. It’s easy to spend hours photographing the prairie dogs as they pop out of their holes. Some of them came right up to the road.
Devil’s Tower is worth stopping at for a few hours. Even better is spending the night in order to enjoy sunset and sunrise.
