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

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

Passport stamp outside the visitor center:

Passport stamp outside visitor center

Model:

Model

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Visitor center

Trail info:

Trail info

View from West Road:

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

Prarie dogs

Prarie dogs

Prarie dogs

Prarie dogs

Prarie dogs

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

Devils Tower

View

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

View

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

A peek of our coach

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

Rock

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

A timelapse video of hiking around Devils Tower:

Alpenglow view from West Road:

View from West Road

View from West Road

Such an iconic monument.

Crazy Woman Canyon

A scenic drive though the interestingly named Crazy Woman Canyon:

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon

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

Tie Hack Reservoir

Tie Hack Reservoir

Tie Hack Reservoir

Tie Hack Reservoir

Tie Hack Reservoir

Tie Hack Reservoir

Some interesting rocks on the return leg:

Interesting rocks

Interesting rocks

Cody KOA Holiday

We stayed at Cody KOA Holiday in Cody, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A busy KOA, especially with lots of motorcycles from people heading to or from the big Sturgis rally.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2023-08-05
  • Check out: 2023-08-13
  • 8 nights

Weather:

  • One day with hail, a couple of days with thunderstorms, mostly clear after that
  • High temps ranging between 70-85°F, lows around 51-59°F
  • Some wind, up to 20 MPH gusts

Noise:

  • Some road noise
  • No train noise
  • Lots of neighbor noise (kids and motorcycles)

Site:

  • #59, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • Unlevel, side-to-side slope, but jacks coped
  • Gravel driveway about 102 feet long by about 12 feet wide
  • Grass between sites about 12 feet wide
  • No trees
  • Concrete patio with table and chairs
  • Fire pit

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, inconveniently located
  • 45 PSI water, inconveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 29 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 250 ms ping
  • Verizon: 25 Mbps down, 18-21 Mbps up, 60-120 ms ping
  • AT&T: 33-38 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 130 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: 3-7 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 110 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Swimming pool
  • Free pancakes for breakfast
  • Package delivery to office

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient to Pancakes

The campground was convenient for exploring Cody and the area. Our site was right next to the office and pancake area, which was nice. The angle to get our big rig out when we left was a little hairy, however. The trailers and smaller rigs in the site next to us usually backed out of their site to avoid the hard left turn around the dump station and propane fill area. Some of the turns in the park were also a bit difficult in a big rig, especially when folks at the ends parked their big trucks into the road. The site itself was level, and all the hookups worked. We camped at Cody KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Buffalo Bill Center of the West is a must-do. Head over to the Bighorn Canyon and Chief Joseph Scenic Highway for some amazing scenery. The Buffalo Bill Dam is also pretty cool.

The campground map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

We went out for a scenic drive one day (see forthcoming post), but as we arrived back in town it started to rain heavily, with lightning in the area. When we arrived back at our site, we waited in our truck for several minutes while it rained and hailed heavily, before making a run for it when it eased up briefly:

Hail

The campground experienced some ground flooding:

Flooding

Video of heavy rain, campground flooding, and lightning:

A screenshot of several nearby lightning strikes via the handy LightningMaps.org website:

Lightning

Flooding:

Flooding

Flooding

Flooding

Flooding

Flooding

All that water washed away the landscaping gravel:

Washed away landscaping gravel

Hail residue:

Hail residue

The campground entrance:

Entrance

Gazebo by the entrance:

Gazebo by entrance

Office:

Office

Office store

Office store

Pools:

Pools

Pools

Playground:

Playground

Playground

Jump pad:

Jump pad

Family room:

Family room

Family room

Family room

A nice feature of this KOA is free pancakes for breakfast every day, with sausages and other food available for purchase:

Pancakes etc

Pancakes and sausages

Speaking of food, some samples of other places we patronized in Cody; first up, More Burgers and Shakes:

More Burgers and Shakes

A close-up of that bear decoration:

Bear

There are bears on the back of the bear:

Bears on bear

More Burgers and Shakes

Not overly impressive:

More Burgers and Shakes

We had a lot of BBQ in Texas, so it was interesting to try Wyoming’s edition at Bubba’s Bar-B-Que; a bit different, but not bad:

Bubba's Bar-B-Que

Bubba's Bar-B-Que

Bubba's Bar-B-Que

Bubba's Bar-B-Que

Bubba's Bar-B-Que

Bubba's Bar-B-Que

Bubba's Bar-B-Que

Finally, some pizza at Tossers Pizza and Beer; decent pan-style pizza, but not the best:

Tossers Pizza and Beer

Tossers Pizza and Beer

Tossers Pizza and Beer

We were planning to attend the famous Cody Nite Rodeo, but after reading the reviews on Yelp and elsewhere, we decided it wasn’t for us — overly religious, political jokes, sexist jokes, etc. It would have been painful. And apparently not good rodeo anyway.

But they kept trying to drum up customers, driving though the campground every day offering discount coupons:

Cody Nite Rodeo

And a bus to pick up people:

Cody Nite Rodeo

One of several occupants of our driver-side neighboring site, a small toy hauler trailer:

Toy hauler trailer

One section of the park has tight buddy sites:

Tight buddy sites

Tight buddy sites

Other sites:

Other sites

A newer section, where it looked like a couple was shoveling the gravel to make it somewhat level for parking after the flooding:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Tent sites:

Tent sites

Teepees:

Teepees

Cabins:

Cabins

Cabins

Our site again, preparing to leave:

Our site