🥾 ActiveDay trip · from Rapid City, SD

Devils Tower — The Tower Trail, Joyner Ridge & the Prairie-Dog Town

Rising 867 feet in a single fluted column of igneous rock above the rolling grassland of northeastern Wyoming, Devils Tower is the most arresting geological landmark within reach of Rapid City — and, as the nation's first national monument, one of the oldest protected places in the American West. This one-day escape crosses the state line to circle the Tower itself on the 1.3-mile paved loop that hugs the base of the columns, then trades the crowds for the quiet ponderosa ridgeline of the Joyner Ridge Trail, where the monolith reveals itself in sweeping profile above the red beds of the Belle Fourche River valley. The day begins and ends at the boisterous prairie-dog town near the entrance, a black-tailed colony that chatters and pops from its burrows in the sagebrush flats below the Tower. Food comes from the ranch-country hamlets of Hulett and Sundance, or a picnic in the meadows within sight of the rock.

The Tower Trail loop around the base of the columnsJoyner Ridge Trail & the prairie-dog town

Day 1 — Devils Tower National Monument, WY

🚗 3 hr 40 min driving📍 4 stops

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Morning

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Drive

Rapid City, SD → Devils Tower National Monument, WY

1 hr 50 min8:00 AM → 9:50 AM

Devils Tower Prairie-Dog Town

★ 4.9

Just inside the monument entrance, the road runs straight through a thriving black-tailed prairie-dog colony spread across the sagebrush flats of the Belle Fourche River valley. The animals stand sentinel at their burrow mouths, chirping warnings and diving underground as cars pass, and the Tower looms behind them in the classic postcard framing. It is the ideal first stop to stretch after the drive and to orient yourself beneath the monolith before climbing toward it. Watch from the road or the small pullout, and resist the urge to feed the animals — they carry fleas and the colony is a protected part of the monument's ecosystem. Morning light rakes low across the mounds and lights the Tower's east face.

9:50 AM📍 See location

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Lunch

The Tower Trail

★ 4.8

The Tower Trail is the essential Devils Tower experience: a 1.3-mile paved loop that circles the entire base of the formation, passing directly beneath the towering hexagonal columns of phonolite porphyry that give the rock its fluted, cathedral-like appearance. Craning upward from the boulder field at the base, you can pick out climbers inching up the cracks and spot the massive fallen columns scattered across the talus slopes. The trail winds through ponderosa pine and offers a new angle on the Tower at every turn, from the sheer south face to the broken, weathered north side. It is mostly gentle with a few short grades, walkable in under an hour but worth lingering over. Interpretive signs explain both the geology and the deep cultural significance the Tower holds for more than twenty Northern Plains tribes, who know it by names such as Bear Lodge.

10:50 AM📍 See location

🍽️ Lunch11:50 AM

Ponderosa Cafe & Bar, Hulett

Ten miles north of the monument in the ranching hamlet of Hulett, the Ponderosa is a genuine Wyoming roadhouse serving hearty burgers, steaks, and cold beer to locals, ranch hands, and Tower-bound travelers alike. It is an unpretentious, friendly place to refuel at the midpoint of the day, with the easy pace of a small cattle-country town. Hulett swells briefly each August for the Ham-N-Jam and the motorcycle-rally overflow, but the rest of the year it is quiet and welcoming.

★ 4.5$$bar📍 Maps →

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Afternoon

Joyner Ridge Trail

★ 4.9

For those who want distance from the crowds, the Joyner Ridge Trail is the monument's finest quiet hike: a 1.5-mile loop across a ponderosa-clad ridge northwest of the Tower that delivers arguably the best distant views of the whole formation. The path climbs gently through pine and prairie to a ridgeline where the Tower stands in full profile above the red sedimentary beds of the valley, framed by open sky rather than the base's tight boulder field. Late afternoon is the prime time here, when the low sun turns the columns gold and warm light floods the meadows. The trail sees a fraction of the Tower Trail's foot traffic, so it is common to have the ridge nearly to yourself, with only the wind in the pines and the distant chatter of the prairie dogs.

12:50 PM📍 See location

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Evening

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Drive

Devils Tower National Monument, WY → Rapid City, SD

1 hr 50 min5:00 PM → 6:50 PM

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