Travel from Devils Tower, Wyoming to Medora, North Dakota

We drove our coach 226 miles, about 4 hours of driving, from Devils Tower, Wyoming to Medora, North Dakota.

Here’s the map route, heading north:

Route

An interactive map, with potential and actual stops marked:

There was a car show outside the campground (and people obliviously waking in front of our coach trying to exit):

Car show outside campground

Bye Devils Tower:

Devils Tower

Hulett:

Hulett

Highway:

Highway

Cows:

Cows

Entering Montana (just passing through):

Entering Montana

A stop at Stoneville Saloon for lunch:

Stoneville Saloon

Interesting decor:

Stoneville Saloon

Notes on the ceiling:

Stoneville Saloon

Sawdust on the floor:

Stoneville Saloon

Fancy menu:

Stoneville Saloon

Simple burgers and fries:

Stoneville Saloon

MT-323:

MT-323

Mountains:

Mountains

Hey, trees:

Trees

MT-7:

MT-7

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

MT-7

Looking down at Paladin:

Paladin

Pause on the side of the road:

Pause on the side of the road

Sunflower field:

Sunflower field

Wibaux:

Wibaux

Detour down a dirt road; not a fun thing in our coach:

Detour down dirt road

Entering North Dakota:

Entering North Dakota

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Exit to Medora:

Exit to Medora

Entering Medora Campground:

Entering Medora Campground

Approaching the office:

Approaching office

Office (staffed by foreign exchange people):

Office

Shop:

Shop

Our coach outside the office:

Coach outside office

Lots of bugs:

Lots of bugs

Our site:

Our site

Fixing windshield washer hose

The windshield washer fluid suddenly stopped working. Upon investigation, I discovered that the hose had become disconnected.

Here’s the washer fluid reservoir:

Washer fluid reservoir

Hard to tell, but the disconnected hose is hanging down in the foreground:

Disconnected hose

Looking up inside the front cap, I can see a T-junction where the hose should go:

T-junction

So I re-connected the hose, and used a small zip tie to hold it in place (and pushed the other two hoses fully onto the junction):

Re-connected hose

It’s working well again now.

Devils Tower National Monument

We visited Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. It was America’s first National Monument, but made famous by the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Devils Tower

Passport stamp outside the visitor center:

Passport stamp outside visitor center

Model:

Model

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Trail info:

Trail info

View from West Road:

View from West Road

There’s a prairie dog town on the way to the tower; these burrowing ground squirrels create massive underground colonies. We stopped on the way back:

Prarie dogs

A video of prairie dogs:

Devils Tower is unusual in that you pay on the way out, probably to avoid a line blocking the KOA campground and shops immediately outside:

Devils Tower is unusual in that you pay on the way out

On the next day, we went back to do a hike around the tower:

Model

Devils Tower

View

Devils Tower

View

A peek of our coach in the KOA from the tower trail:

A peek of our coach

Devils Tower

Rock

Devils Tower

A timelapse video of hiking around Devils Tower:

Alpenglow view from West Road:

View from West Road

Such an iconic monument.

Devils Tower / Black Hills KOA Journey

We stayed at Devils Tower / Black Hills KOA Journey in Devils Tower, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A partial view of Devils Tower, from just outside the monument.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-08-16
Check out: 2023-08-19
3 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 87-95°F, lows around 56-73°F
Wind gusts up to 33 MPH gusts

Noise:

Negligible road noise
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#38, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Level front-to-back, a little unlevel side-to-side
Gravel driveway about 75 feet long by about 10 feet wide
Grass between sites about 20 feet wide
No tree on this site, big trees elsewhere
Picnic table on grass
Next to the group fire pit
Partial front view of Devils Tower

Utilities:

50 amp power, very conveniently located
80 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 16 Mbps down,16 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Verizon: 13-25 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
AT&T: 82 Mbps down, 2-6 Mbps up, 120 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Closed swimming pool
Mini-golf (free due to closed pool)
Package delivery to office
Onsite cafe
Right outside Devils Tower entrance

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Not all “premium” sites have a good view

The only way to get closer to Devils Tower National Monument would be to stay inside the monument at the rustic first-come-first-serve campground. We booked a premium site online, assuming it would have a view of the tower from our site. Not so much. There were big trees in the way, so we only got a slight peep of the lower edge of the tower. For $100/night (with our KOA discount), I was expecting a front-row seat. From our scouting, the best sites for a good view are 100, 86-89. We were in site 38. Site 37 probably had a better view. The other downside of site 38 was that so many people walked through our site, thinking it was the pathway to the bathhouse. Hint: It’s not. The picnic table and the lack of a pathway are clues, people. The onsite diner was a nice perk, but I’m wary of any place with that many flies in the eating area. We camped at Devils Tower / Black Hills KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: You could get up early to get to the tower to beat the crowds, but going in the late afternoon/evening is just as good. Definitely go up the dirt road to Joiner Ridge trailhead and get a fantastic view of the tower at sunset lit up with alpenglow.

The campground map:

Map

Interactive map:

Our site, with a partial view of the tower:

Our site

A group fire pit was next to our site, which they lit each night, though nobody used it:

Group fire pit next to our site

Sun setting behind Devils Tower:

Sun setting behind Devils Tower

Gift store:

Gift store

Onsite cafe, always a nice option, though it was rather inundated with flies:

Cafe

They offered “hayrides”, hay not included:

Hayride

Across the road is the Devils Tower Trading Post:

Trading Post

We went there for dinner another night, and grabbed some questionable hot dogs (that we think gave us some mild food poisoning):

Trading Post

Post office:

Post office

Mini golf:

Mini golf

The mini golf was free, as the boot-shaped swimming pool was unavailable:

Swimming pool

Carts:

Carts

Other sites:

Other sites

Site 100 would be an excellent choice for a side view of the tower:

Other sites

Sites 86-89 would have a decent front view, too:

Other sites

Dog park:

Other sites

Playground:

Playground

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Cabins:

Cabins

Lots of tent sites:

Lots of tent sites

Teepees:

Teepees

A badly angled peek inside a teepee:

Teepee

Interesting rocks and stream:

Interesting rocks and stream

Meadow and tower:

Meadow and tower

Video

Video: Buffalo to Devils Tower motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 130 miles from Buffalo, Wyoming to Devils Tower, Wyoming.

Travel from Buffalo to Devils Tower, Wyoming

We drove our coach 130 miles, about 2 hours of driving, from Buffalo to Devils Tower, Wyoming.

Here’s the map route, heading east:

Route

An interactive map, with planned and actual stops marked:

A GIF of retracting the big front driver-side slide-out:

GIF of slide-out retracting

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving the RV park

I-90 off into the distance:

I-90

A rest stop (not initially planned, but needed due to battling wind while driving):

Rest stop

Onward on I-90:

I-90

One of several narrow bridges due to roadworks:

Narrow bridge roadworks

Coal power plant:

Coal power plant

Paladin asleep in his safe space next to the passenger chair:

Paladin asleep

A stop for diesel at the Sinclair Coffee Cup Fuel Stop:

Fuel stop

Our coach parked with trucks; we ran the generator so the ACs could be on, it being rather hot:

Coach parked with trucks

We went inside to grab some lunch:

Sinclair station food options

Food

We got some sandwiches, chips, and icees, which we took back to our coach to eat:

Food

Apparently Wyoming gets bids from farmers to mow the verges of highways; a great resource for them, and great for the state:

Hay

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Approaching Devils Tower:

Approaching Devils Tower

Our destination the KOA right outside the entrance of the monument:

KOA

Our coach parked while checking in:

Our coach

Check-in kiosk:

Check-in kiosk

Devils Tower:

Devils Tower

Crazy Woman Canyon

A scenic drive though the interestingly named Crazy Woman Canyon:

Crazy Woman Canyon

A timelapse video of the drive through the canyon:

After that, we had a picnic dinner at Tie Hack Reservoir:

Picnic at Tie Hack Reservoir

Then walked to the dam:

Tie Hack Reservoir

Some interesting rocks on the return leg:

Interesting rocks

Buffalo KOA Journey

We stayed at Buffalo KOA Journey in Buffalo, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second visit to this very nice KOA, again staying in the new Clear Creek Loop section.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-08-13
Check out: 2023-08-16
3 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 72-90°F, lows around 49-59°F
Some wind on arrival day, up to 20 MPH gusts, otherwise negligible

Noise:

Some faint road noise
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#82, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
A little unlevel, not too bad
Gravel driveway about 60 feet long by about 12 feet wide
Grass and rocks between sites about 15 feet wide
Young trees
Concrete patio with table and chairs
Fire pit

Utilities:

50 amp power, very inconveniently located
60 PSI water, very inconveniently located
Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe plus 1 3-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 30 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: 6 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 15 ms ping
Verizon: 22 Mbps down, 22 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
AT&T: 105 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Swimming pool
Package delivery to office
Path by creek

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Newer section is lovely

This was our second stay here, and we enjoyed it just as much as the first time. Once again, our site was in the newer creekside portion, and it’s still very nice. There is minor road noise, but pretty faint. The sites are level, and hookups are all good. We’ll definitely stay here again on our next trip through the area and try one of the back-in sites along the creek itself. We camped at Buffalo KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Crazy Woman Canyon is a fantastic drive. Tie Hack picnic area was a great spot to enjoy a bite to eat afterward.

The campground map:

Campground map

Interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Decoration:

Decoration

Bridge:

Bridge

Dog run:

Dog run

Creek:

Creek

Video of the creek:

Creek

Other sites

Group fire pit:

Group fire pit

A path from the creek area, and other sites:

Path and other sites

Other sites

Four different Tiffin motorhome models; our Allegro Bus, a Phaeton, an Allegro Open Road, and an Allegro Red:

Other sites

A nice KOA; our second stay here, and we’ll definitely stay here again in the future. If we were to stay here more than a few nights, one of the back-in sites in the Clear Creek loop would be delightful.

Video

Video: Cody to Buffalo, Wyoming motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 179 miles from Cody, Wyoming to Buffalo, Wyoming.

Travel from Cody to Buffalo, Wyoming

We drove our coach 179 miles, about 3 hours of scenic driving, from Cody, Wyoming to Buffalo, Wyoming.

Here’s the map route, heading east:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops:

But before we could leave, I had to ask the driver of this truck to move, as they where blocking the exit (sure, just park across the road and no-parking markings; your convenience is more important than anyone else):

Truck blocking exit

Underway, with a flat and curvy highway:

Flat and curvy

Pump jack:

Pump jack

We stopped for lunch in the Washakie County Visitor’s Council parking lot, since it has some RV spots just barely big enough for us (and was pretty much empty, being closed). They have a mammoth sculpture out front:

Mammoth

Fun hills:

Hills

The cute town of Ten Sleep:

Ten Sleep

Heading through the Bighorn mountains:

Hills

Bighorn mountains

Paladin chilling on the floor between us:

Paladin

Bighorn mountains

Snow fences:

Snow fences

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Rain:

Rain

One of several 8% downgrades:

One of several 8% downgrades

Mandatory brake check turnout for trucks, RVs, and vehicles with trailers; Jenn hardly touched the brakes, though; she’s great at using gears and engine braking on downhills:

Brake check turnout