Around and Around Devil's Tower We Go - Friday, June 20, 2020

Today, we are doing the 11k (6.8 mi.) Volksmarch around Devil's Tower National Monument. It's a gorgeous day for a hike and we start the walk directly from our KOA campground at the entrance to the national monument. [NOTE: Real start point is at the Trading Post across the street from the KOA campground.]

Our site at Devil's Tower KOA.

The office at KOA.

At 8:30 a.m., there is a line of cars and RVs to get into the park. We walked up to the gate and got through in about 30 seconds. I asked the ranger for a brochure because we wanted to have a map of the trails.

We retraced our steps from yesterday afternoon across the Belle Fourche River and through the prairie dog town. Once again, we saw a fox hunting amongst the prairie dog dens. Wow! Two days in a row. 

First, Bob spotted deer.

Bob by the road just before
the Belle Fourche River.

Bob also spotted the fox hunting
prairie dogs for breakfast.

We passed by the amphitheater for the campground (closed). Our route then took us through the end of the prairie dog meadow up to the Red Beds Trail. A steady climb through sparse pine trees and dramatic rocks brought us up to the base of Devil's Tower. 

Bob climbing up out of the river valley.

 

The lovely Belle Fourche River.

Rock formations.

Balanced rock.

Trail map

Starting to get close now.

Even though the Visitor Center was closed, the trails were open and park rangers had a booth outside where they could answer people's questions. Now, we are heading around the base of the tower on the Tower Trail. It is quite crowded. This seems to be a popular activity today!

The Tower Trail is the most popular trail in the park. It is paved all the way around the tower and is relatively easy considering the elevation. There are ups and downs, it's not completely flat. Partway around the tower, we saw climbers up on the columnar jointing of the rocks. This geologic feature is due to the hot magma jutting up out of the earth and cooling which caused stress points. 

There are rock climbers up there, but
you can't see them in the photo. 

From the Tower Trail.

When we finished the Tower Trail, we were supposed to find the Red Beds Trail heading clockwise. However, the trail is under construction so thankfully the rangers were there to point us in the right direction. This was a beautiful section of the trail in the shade of some huge trees and we had a slight breeze. 

Such a pretty section of trail!

Long-range views.

We are so happy we walked the Red Beds Trail in a clockwise direction. Coming down this side of the tower had a long, steep downhill. Going up would have been much more difficult than the way we did it.

The trail leveled out into prairie grasses.

We weren't the only people hiking the Red Beds Trail, but the number of people was substantially lower than the crowds on the Tower Trail. As we came around the tower, we were saying "Hi" to the same people we had seen going the other way when we started. I'd say about 17-20 people did the Red Beds loop trail.

We had a view of the park entrance road as we came down the hill. At 11:30 a.m., there was quite a line of cars waiting to get into the park. 

Cars lined up in front of the KOA
at the entrance to Devil's Tower N.M.

As we rounded a corner in the trail, we saw the Red Beds rock formation that gives the trail its name. Once we passed through Red Beds, we took the first trail back down to the main park road. 

Bob now in the red rocks/dirt.
The KOA campground is just below us.

Red Beds Trail.

Huge "puff ball" plant. 

Dandelion (?) close up.

View toward the end of our walk.

The end is in sight.

Belle Fourche River and red rocks.

Red rocks lining the river.

Tipis along river at the KOA campground.

Showy Milkweed in bloom.

When we returned to the park entrance at about 12:30 p.m., there was another line waiting to get in. [As a note to those of you who want to take your RVs into the national monument, please plan on dropping your trailers or big motorhomes in the lot for that purpose past prairie dog town. The parking lot at the Visitor Center is under construction and there is a limited amount of space for big rigs. We did see some smaller RVs at the top, but parking is limited as is turn-around space.] 

Devil's Tower Nat'l. Monument
entrance gate.

Walk aftermath. 

When we returned to the RV, my Achilles tendon was burning like crazy which necessitated much stretching and icing. Happy face because I loved the walk and now I get to relax with my book. 

After a quiet afternoon, we made our way to the KOA's hayride at 6:00 p.m. The trailer is pulled by a tractor over red dirt roads through Campstool Ranch. Unfortunately, we sat immediately behind the tractor's tires and had a faceful of dust for most of the hour-long ride. I pulled my T-shirt up over my nose and mouth which helped some. We saw many, many deer on our ride and gorgeous views of Devil's Tower. 

Our "haywagon." (No hay in sight.)

A beautiful silhouette view of the tower.

The view of the KOA campground
as we came back after the hayride.

Every night at 8:00 p.m., the KOA plays the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" outside under the stars with a view of Devil's Tower in the background. We tried to watch it last night, but due to rain and technical difficulties, we only saw half the movie. Tonight, we are going to try again. 

Yay, we were able to see the whole movie tonight. It has been about 50 years since I originally saw it. I didn't remember much, so it was like seeing it for the first time.

Tomorrow, we head toward Helena, Montana, and will stop in Reed Point, Montana, at the Old West RV Park. Until then, happy trails to you.