Devils Tower National Monument

Elite '08

407

413

Andy F.

San Francisco, CA

Did you know that this moutain/hill or whatever the heck it is, not only played a prominent role in Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", but also came to be as an Indian Legend about 7 Indian girls running for their lives from a murderous bear?

Here's how we found ourselves at this imposing wonder o' nature:

We drive everywhere..including for our vacations..We've driven the entire length of the U.S. more than twice..From Boston to San Francisco. The first time we drove to Montana to see my brother and his family, we were driving through Wyoming..and if you've ever done the stretch of highway, you'll understand what I'm about to inform Yelpers of..First..there are countless billboards for miles asking drivers to stop at Wall Drug..the original 7-11..plus a many other tourist traps..One of these was Devils Tower..

The sign said turn here and two hours later..we were there..That's right..A two hour detour to see a GD rock!...Although, it was cool, inspiring, jaw-droppingly beautiful and a thousand other cool adjectives that you can come up with.

You drive and drive and drive until finally..this behemoth of a jagged rock comes into view. A small convenience store sits at the base of this rock and it sells everything you need and all the things you don't; 7-UP to UFO trading cards. Once past this store, you'll find yourself driving up the road to a small kiosk where you pay $10 for the pleasure of driving up to the base of this phenomenon.

Is it worth it? Hell yeah..At the base of the rock you'll find Prairie Dog town..NO JOKE..The land encircling this place is littered..READ: LITTERED with prairie dogs...and you can tell that these "dogs" are accustomed to humans..As they approach your car eagerly waiting for something..Which we assumed was "food"..We didn't feed them, but the boys sure wanted to dine on them.

The road leading up the base is winding and offers spectacular views at every turn. Once at the top, you can park your car and walk up to the rock..climb the rock or summon the aliens..whatever tickles your fancy. As we were slightly behind in our road trip..We chose to pay the $10, drive to the base, snap a few pics and then make our way back down. This area is fairly close to Sturgis, Wyoming..So, if you're into crotch rockets..then you should definitely make the trip here.

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