Ok I know Devils Tower (Bears Lodge) is in Wyoming but it was actually a perfect addition to our South Dakota road trip. The monument is located in the Northeast corner of the state and it made sense to loop it in to our road trip. The Tower looms large over the flat plains that surround it.

Devils Tower was the first National Monument and it continues to maintain its popularity through all these years. We are talking celebrity status popularity. Despite the monument’s extreme popularity, the visitor center is actually rather small and the parking lot matches. I can not stress this enough that you have to get there early.

Once you are parked, you can walk toward the visitor center and you will find newspaper stands outside of the building. You can pick up a junior ranger booklet and the badge inside of these. Also the restroom entrance is located on the outside of the visitor center. So if you need either of these don’t bother going into the small building. To also reduce crowds in the visitor center there was a small covered gazebo like area just before the start of the Tower Trail. There were rangers stationed here answering questions for people before they started their hike.

We completed the Tower Trail, which is a paved loop trail around the monument. It is 1.3 miles long and once you ascend to the main loop then it is fairly flat though I would say not really wheelchair or stroller friendly. It was interesting to see the Tower from various angles and lighting.

The junior ranger book was excellent and it helped engage the kiddos during the walk. Something to note on your hike. There are prayer cloths throughout the trees that you will notice during the walk. You are not supposed to touch them or photograph them. 

After completing our hike, we started heading for the exit but there was one more place we needed to stop: The Wind Circle Statue or Sacred Circle of Smoke Statue.

This statue was created by the Japanese artist Junkyu Muto. It is one in a series of statues around the world to promote peace. It is supposed to represent the smoke that rises from a pipe when first lit and to acknowledge the multiple Native American tribes in the area that consider this place sacred. There is also signage here that describes the Lakota story of Pte-san win-an and it is worth the read. 

Surprisingly, this area of the park was absolutely empty (near the Belle Fourche Campground). We were the only ones there to see the sculpture and there was plenty of parking places. It was a beautiful and serene spot and I highly recommend stopping here. It is a nice way to complete your trip to the Tower. 

A couple of add ons for a loop trip from South Dakota

On the way back, we detoured so that we could see the “Geographic Center of the US” located in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. I’m just going to post the sign here because it was shocking to me that it would be located here so here is the explanation.

There was a nice visitor center here that was kid friendly and this giant marker.

It was cute but if you are in a hurry you can probably skip it 🙂

After this stop we headed to Spearfish, South Dakota. We were planning on spending our entire afternoon here. We arrived at the first waterfall, got a photo and then a massive rainstorm rolled in completely dashing our afternoon plans. Spearfish (the canyon and town) looked absolutely stunning. We will have to return on a sunnier day.

Don’t forget Devils Tower National Monument as an add on for your South Dakota road trip! Happy Travels!