The only extraterrestrial visit to a national monument: Devil's Tower

In the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind the alien spaceship landed in Devil's Tower, Wyoming, driving Richard Dreyfuss nutty. Remember him modeling a replica of what he saw in his head, which turned out to be the bigger-than-life volcanic monolith that defines the park? For many people, that was their first view of this giant 50-million year old igneous extrusion that rose abruptly out of the grasslands and forests of far northeastern Wyoming.

In fact, if you were one of those first time viewers, you may have found it hard to believe. It had to have been enhanced in Photoshop. This steep-sided, ribbed, black, eruption of molten lava, that rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche river. Besides its monstrous, alien-attracting size, a striking characteristic is surface of the tower covered with vertical polygonal columns (there are some four, and six-sided columns as well) that measure 15 to 20 feet in diameter at the base and taper to about ten feet at the summit.

Think of that when looking at the tower to get an idea of its enormous size. And believe it or not, over 50,000 climbers (see arrow on photo at right) have made it to the top and signed the log. And it make it even more weird, these climbers report that they have seen squirrels, rattle snakes, and pack rats among the prairie grasses and prickly pear cactus. How did they get there?

The park is open all year and a 50-site park campground (open April thru October) hugs the river and a KOA is nearby. And while you're here, visit the prairie dog town and hike the trail all the way around the tower of this 1,347-acre monument.