Scientists can’t say for certain how this mind-bending monolith formed in the Black Hills of northeastern Wyoming. Some speculate there was an underground volcanic eruption 50 million years ago, an “intrusion” geologically speaking, which broke into columns as it cooled and was exposed after millions of years of erosion.
Today the massive pillar, 1,287 above the Bell Fourche River and 867 feet tall from its base, is a sacred site to many Native American tribes in the area and a reminder to all who visit of the earth’s violent, mysterious history. Theodore Roosevelt declared it America's first national monument in 1906.
When it appears from the highway about 20 miles away, the tower resembles an awful claw ripping through the earth. It becomes more defined as you get closer, but no less strange and terrifying. A 1.3 mile hike around the tower gives you as up close of a view as you can get without climbing the rock, which a number of brave souls were doing when I was there.
After spending a few hours at Devils Tower, I continued west, making it as far as Bald Mountain in Wyoming's Bighorn National Forest. I camped there Saturday night.
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