500px provided description: Devils Tower is America?s first National Monument. It was established in 1916 by Theodore Roosevelt. This was the first stop on our trip to the Black Hills area. Living in Colorado, you are so close to so many amazing National Parks and Monuments. I mean, this stuff is practically in our back yard. My wife and I left work at 5:00pm on a Friday and drove the 6 hours to Devils Tower. Obviously, by the time we got to the campground it was dark and we just pitched the tent and called it a night. The next morning we opened the door to the tent and were greeted with quite a magnificent view of the monument. We quickly broke camp and headed on up to the monument and visitor center. There is a 1 mile trail around the base of the monument that made for a nice morning walk. The hike gives you the opportunity to see the giant columns of rock up close, and if you look close enough you often see rock climbers making their way to the top.

Because I know some of you are wondering.. Yes, this is the place from ?Close Encounters of the Third Kind.? :-) [#wyoming ,#devils tower ,#national monuments]