Mon. 24 - Devils Tower Road Trip

Spearfish Falls was actually one of the most popular tourist stops in the northern Black Hills around the beginning of the 19th century when a Burlington Railroad line took passengers directly over it, parts of which can still be found on the trail today. The trail to this 47 ft waterfall starts at the parking lot for the Latchstring Restaurant and is roughly 3/4 in length. Note that while the path to the left is easy, the one to the right of the restaurant is more difficult but does include a sweet traverse over an old metal walking bridge. Interestingly enough, in 1917, this waterfall was actually turned off for awhile as water was diverted from Spearfish Creek to a nearby hydroelectric plant that helped power operations at Homestake Gold Mine until November 17, 2003. For this reason, Spearfish Falls is one of the lesser-known waterfalls that often gets passed by even today.

Bridal Veil Falls is the easiest of the three waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon to locate as it can be seen from the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway (US Hwy 14A). The name of this 60 ft waterfall can be seen in the shape of the water as it falls over the edge and thinly veils the limestone and other rock layers like Victorian lace. The waterfall is located six miles or 10-15 minutes from Spearfish. There is ample parking along the side of the byway for viewers to park and a cross-walk to safely get from there to the viewing platform on the other side of US Hwy 14A.

Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway—a stunning 19-mile cruise through towering limestone walls and dense deciduous forest. The road follows Spearfish Creek past historic Homestake Gold Mine hydroelectric plants and multiple waterfalls.

Where the "Sundance" Kid got his name, have your picture taken with him. Visit our free Crook County Museum and see the Sundance Territorial jail and courtroom furniture used during his trial and 18 month sentence. About the Sundance Kid: Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (1867 – 1908), better known as the Sundance Kid, was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, in the American Old West. Longabaugh likely met Butch Cassidy (real name Robert Leroy Parker) after Parker was released from prison around 1896. Together with the other members of "The Wild Bunch" gang, they performed the longest string of successful train and bank robberies in American history.

A geologic feature protrudes out of the rolling prairie that surrounds the Black Hills. The site is considered Sacred to the Lakota and other tribes that have a connection to the area. Hundreds of parallel cracks make it one of the finest traditional crack climbing areas in North America. Devils Tower entices us to explore and define our place in the natural and cultural world. Protruding out of the rolling prairie that surrounds the Black Hills region, Devils Tower is a monolith of uncommon igneous rock (phonolite). President Theodore Roosevelt used the 1906 Antiquities Act, to create the monument based on natural rather than cultural features. This site is considered a Sacred place to the Lakota and other tribes that have a connection to the Black Hills and surrounding area. Porcupines spend a good deal of their lives stripping off the outer bark of trees to expose and eat the cambrium layer. You can see many examples of this at Devils Tower when you walk along the Tower Trail. The columns that create Devils Tower can be 4, 5, 6, or 7 sided. Some geologists believe the last column fell 10,000 years ago. Devils Tower has been featured in several movies, including Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Devils Tower has been a sacred site for Native Americans since they happened upon it centuries ago. Different tribes have different stories, but they're all very similar. The Lakota and the Kiowa tell a tale of two young girls who, while out playing, were spotted by seveal enormous bears who began to give chase. The girls, in an attempt to escape, climbed to the top of Devils Tower, and then fell to their knees and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them as the bears began to scale the rocks behind them. The Great Spirit raised the rock to the heavens, and as the cliff grew steeper, the bears fell backwards, their claw marks as they tried to hang on being the ridges on the side of the tower. Once the rock reached the sky, the girls were turned into stars-- the constellation we know today as the Pleiades. A Sioux version has two boys being chased by a huge bear named Mato-- they climb onto the rock and pray to the creator Wakan Tanka, who raises the rock as the bear falls down the side, leaving the scratch marks. The boys are then rescued by an eagle named Wanblee, and Mato sulks off to Bear Butte, named for him. The Cheyenne version is much darker: in it, there is a large group of girls, most of whom are killed by the bear. Two escape and solicite help from two boys, who have the girls lure the bear to the top of Devil's Tower so they can shoot it on the underside of its foot with an arrow, supposedly the bear's only weak spot. As they boys fire arrows at the bear, it leaves scratch marks on the Tower, and in the end, the bear gives up and leaves.

The mission of the Hulett Museum and Art Gallery is to collect and preserve the history and culture of northeastern Wyoming. The Museum will seek to inspire, educate and enrich the lives of the community, tourists, and visitors.

Rogues Gallery is located 9 miles from Devils Tower Wy. which is the United States of Americas very first National Monument. Nestled in the Beautiful Black Hills, Rogues Gallery and Museum has been a main attraction for tourists and collectors alike. The gallery was established in 1993 by well known Western Artist and Dealer in Early Native American and Western Americana, Bob Coronato.

Wyoming Mercantile, also known as the Aladdin General Store is a preserved small-town general store in Aladdin, Wyoming. The store, which remains in operation, was built in 1896 by Amos Robinson as Wyoming Mercantile

The Geographic Center of the Nation Monument, a 21-foot diameter structure made of etched-SD granite marks Belle Fourche as the town closest to the center of the 50 states. The monument is located at the Belle Fourche Chamber and Visitor Information Center/Tri-State Museum building offering visitors a rewarding, well-rounded vision of the Belle Fourche experience.

The Old Redwater Bridge near Spearfish, South Dakota was built in 1910. It was built by the Standard Bridge Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. It spans the Redwater River, south of Belle Fourche. The bridge was built in 1910 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993.