By Scott Shephard
The Devil’s Tower (Wyoming) - Our Nation’s first national monument (Declared by Teddy Roosevelt)
You can climb the Devil’s Tower but first you have to accomplish the daunting task of getting to the parking lot. Even on a Sunday in May, like many American National Parks and Monuments, this National Park/Monument is severely overcrowded.
My brother-in-law Scott D and I only wanted to get to the visitor center parking lot so we could walk the mile-long path that circumnavigates the base. To do this, we went through the main gate, which flows fairly freely because you pay when you leave. You then drive for a mile or so until you come to a seemingly endless line of stopped cars. They are stopped because a traffic light regulates how many cars can get in: if three cars come out, then the light turns green and three cars go in.
We never saw the parking lot. In fact, we never saw the traffic light. After 20 minutes of creeping forward, we pulled a tricky 4 point turn on the relatively narrow 2 lane road and headed back to the gate so we could pay for our visit. ($25, though I used my Lifetime Senior Pass)
I asked the lady at the gate when the best time to visit is and she suggested that because the park is open 24 hours a day, either early morning or later in the evening would work best. I’m guessing that if we got here at 5 am, we’d be sure to get the green light.
We did get a few photos, though. Even though Scott D couldn’t cross the walk around the base off his bucket list, we felt that the 5 hour round trip from our cabin was worth it. The monument is amazing and the cloudy skies were a photographer’s dream.
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