Devils Tower was dedicated the first National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. The Tower is granite and measures 1,000 feet in diameter at the bottom and 275 feet in diameter at the top. The Tower is considered sacred site of worship to Native Americans. There are many native American legends regarding this Tower. One legend; the marks come from a giant bear who clawed grooves into the mountain side while chasing two Indian Maidens. The Tower is known as Bear Lodge to several Native American tribes. If this giant rock looks familiar to you, it was featured in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The KOA sits at the entrance. We stayed one night, and the KOA plays the movie every evening at 8 pm. The DevilsTower is a rock climbers dream.
Depending on the time of day, the tower can appear very different:
We also encounter our first Prairie Dog Town:
And more deer:
Off to see our fourth Cave- Wind Cave National Park.