Columns in the Clouds: Devils Tower National Monument
There are landmarks you plan for—and then there are those that rise unexpectedly from the Earth like a myth. Devils Tower is the latter.
Set among the rolling hills of northeastern Wyoming, this dramatic column of stone was the first site ever designated a U.S. National Monument, thanks to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. And fittingly, it’s as memorable as the man who protected it.
What exactly is Devils Tower? That’s still up for debate. It’s clearly an igneous formation—the hardened result of molten rock pushing up under the surface. But whether it was once the heart of a volcano or simply an underground plug that never erupted remains uncertain.
It reminded us of another solitary volcanic remnant we explored almost exactly a year ago: The Nut in Stanley, Tasmania. That one juts out dramatically from the coast, overlooking ocean cliffs and green pastures. We hiked up to the top and circled the rim with views of Bass Strait and seabirds diving below. Devils Tower, by contrast, stands vertical and remote, guarded by boulder fields and wrapped in Native American legend. But both formations carry the same feeling: of being humbled by ancient igneous rock that inexplicably rises from the Earth.
At Devils Tower, the stone tells its story in near-perfect symmetry. The entire structure is made of towering hexagonal columns—nature’s version of architecture. As the molten rock cooled, it cracked at 120° angles, forming vertical honeycomb shapes that rise impossibly into the sky. The kids were amazed. How could something so mathematical come from something so wild?
When we arrived, the top of the tower was in the clouds. It felt even more mysterious, almost like it had no end. No wonder Native American tribes tell stories of giant bears clawing the sides of a giant tree or girls being lifted to safety in the sky. And today, those stories live on. We passed prayer cloths tied to trees along the trail, reminders that this is still a sacred place for the Lakota, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, and many others.
Then came the boulder field—a kid’s paradise. They leapt from rock to rock like mountain goats, challenging each other to reach new heights and debating who could run around the base trail the fastest. They were thrilled it wasn’t as long as walking around Uluru in the Australian outback (which was 3 times as long). But with all the detours, climbing, and short legs, it still took far longer than planned.
Whether it's an ancient plug on the edge of Tasmania or a sacred column rising from the Wyoming plains, some places call you to slow down, wonder, and wander. Devils Tower isn’t just a monument—it’s a mystery, a memory-maker, and a monument to ancient legends.
