Smoky Scout's Hiking Adventures: South Dakota: Bear Lodge (Devil's Tower National Monument) in Wyoming

South Dakota: Bear Lodge (Devil’s Tower National Monument) in Wyoming
6/11/23 – 3.3 Miles

What’s in a name?

Devil’s Tower National Monument is a name most of us recognize, thanks to a white explorer’s incorrect interpretation of a Native American word in an 1875 book about the Black Hills. The book was popular and the name stuck, despite the fact that most prior maps and documents recorded the more accurate interpretation as Bear Lodge. This is one of many geologic features in the U.S. with Native American names that have been overwritten by European settlers.

Names matter. This sacred mountain rising from the plains of Wyoming is Bear Lodge (Mato Tipila). Go deep into the National Park Service website, click here and here, to read origin stories from Native American tribes throughout the region, including Arapaho, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone.

Continuing with my own story: After a luxurious night’s sleep (momentarily disrupted by a fire alarm) I woke to sunshine streaming through the windows and choices of how to spend the day. That Ford Expedition in the parking lot winked at me and we took off on I-90 towards Wyoming. Blue skies, near-empty roads, cruising at 80 mph…Thank you, Spirit, for this gift of time.

I had to pull over when I first saw Bear Lodge, imposing from many miles away. I was totally unprepared for this colossal monolith rising up out of the prairie.

Driving along the Main Park Road to the Visitor Center searching for a parking spot, I realized my sense of time was a little skewed – oh, this is a Sunday! I joined the throngs to walk the 1.8-mile Tower Trail loop around the base of Bear Lodge, observing that the National Park Service has put a lot of infrastructure in place to manage gobsmacked humans, including fences, directional signs and info signs about what you’re looking at.

As I noticed most people going counterclockwise, I intuitively chose the clockwise direction to avoid pacing myself with the crowd. (A tactic I learned at flea markets and Christmas fairs - you’re welcome!)

Whew! I took over 100 photos of the same subject, the sheer walls, the steep slope, the piles of boulders at the base. Here are a few:

Do you see "the window?"

Colorful bundles or strips of cloth were tied to trees all around the monument. They represent prayer offerings as a private, personal connection to the site. It is considered inappropriate to take photos.

June Voluntary Climbing Closure
(some people either ignored the request or didn’t read the sign…)

It's possible to escape the swarm around the tower’s base and hike along several trails to view Bear Lodge from a distance as part of the landscape. I walked the Joyner Ridge Trail, a 1.5-mile loop, enjoying solitude as I climbed up a small rocky ridgeline and descended into a shady ravine and then an open valley of flowers.

View from the high point of Joyner Ridge Trail

Mariposa Lily

I sat down in a field and pondered this mysterious natural formation. Its energy drew me in like
nothing else I’ve ever experienced. I think I’ll be back.