Devils Tower

Devils Tower is just 60 miles northwest of Rapid City and roughly 30 miles from Sundance, Wyoming — close enough that most Black Hills visitors make the drive. Proclaimed America's first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, it remains one of the most iconic landmarks in the American West. Known as "Mato Tipila" in the Lakota language — meaning Bear Lodge — Devils Tower is revered as a sacred site by multiple Native American tribes. Colorful prayer bundles and cloth tied to trees may be seen along the trails — these are ceremonial objects and should not be touched, disturbed, or photographed out of respect for Indigenous cultural practices. The Tower Trail is a 1.3-mile paved loop around the base of the tower, suitable for all ages and skill levels, with the tower rising nearly 900 feet overhead. Eight total miles of trails wind through forests, meadows, and prairie dog towns. Hundreds of parallel cracks make Devils Tower one of the finest traditional crack climbing destinations in North America.