While we didn’t get to spend a week in Wyoming as we were planning, I was pleased to discover that we’d be close enough to the state – albeit the other side – to make a day trip there from South Dakota. We were all excited about the prospect of adding a third state to our vacation agenda and exploring the gorgeous and fascinating Devils Tower National Monument.

Devils Tower is a massive rock tower rising out of the Earth and hundreds of feet into the sky. While there are many legends about how the tower came to be, the one I like best is the story of a group of young Indigenous boys who were being stalked by a massive bear. The Earth itself rose up to save them from the bear, and the deep grooves down the tower are the bear’s claw marks, made while the boys looked down from above. (The grooves are also popular for “crack climbing” – not on our agenda for this time!)

Views of the tower – I couldn’t stop snapping pictures!

We hiked a trail that wound around the entire circumference of the tower, taking us out onto the hills behind the monument and overlooking a grand river valley, then back to the visitors’ center.

Still want to make that Yellowstone trip happen – someday! In the meantime, we got our Wyoming fix in a pretty darn spectacular way, if I do say so myself.

Next week: our final park of the trip! It’s an extra-spectacular one, so I’m breaking the recap into two blog posts. Check in with me then!