May 22: Jackson, WY to Bighorn National Forest, WY. 325 miles, 6 hours.
May 23: Bighorn National Forest, WY to Devil’s Tower National Monument, 140 miles, 2.5 hours. Devil’s Tower National Monument to Custer, SD, 108 miles, 2 hours.
Leaving Grand Tetons/Jackson, WY, our next main stop was the Black Hills area in South Dakota. We decided that since we were going to drive across Wyoming, we might as well stop at Devil’s Tower. It added a couple hours of driving onto the weekend, but was well worth the extra time. Saturday we left Jackson and drove about 6 hours to Bighorn National Forest to sleep for the night. Wyoming is a long state to drive across…kind of like Texas with grass. On our way, we stopped to stretch in the town of Thermopolis, site of the “world’s largest mineral hot spring”. I really had no idea prior to 2021 how many hot spring areas existed in the US. It was already late in the afternoon so we opted for the playground instead of taking a dip in the city pool.
Sunday, we had a shorter drive to get to Devil’s Tower. We unhooked our RV in a larger lot past the entrance, and then drove to the visitor lot to start the hike around. The trail that goes around the tower was perfect – decently paved, surrounded by large boulders for mini-climbers and hide-and-seek (a game I hate playing in these sort of settings, but decided it was pretty low risk…since Greg was playing too). We stopped about halfway around to eat and enjoy the beautiful valley views.
Who stands guard at Devil’s Tower? a town of Prairie Dogs, of course. Chatty prairie dogs who seemed to relish beckoning children near their burrowed homes only to disappear quickly when an overly exuberant 5 year old boy tried to grab them. Grayson and Madelyn delighted in seeing how close they could get, and then would wait at a hole for many minutes to see if their furry friend would pop back up. I delighted in watching the kids stare at an empty hole while little creatures popped up to look at them from nearby holes. No new pets obtained on this stop.
Beautiful area, SD too.
I remember going to Devil’s Tower with the kids…and I remember the Prairie Dogs were quite cute and fun!!
Very fun!