Red Beds Trail
The 2.8 mile dirt around Devils Tower National Monument trail has moderate dips and rises and wanders outside of tree cover, making it a more difficult hike than Tower Trail but only an moderate overall challenge.
Category Wyoming
Read MoreRed Beds Trail
Tower Trail
Tower Trail is the de facto hike in Devils Tower National Monument. This easy 1.3 mile paved trail closely circles the base of Devil's Tower with frequent interpretive panels explaining different aspects of the tower's geology, history, and cultural significance.
Belle Fourche Campground
The Belle Fourche Campground is the only campground inside of the Devils Tower National Monument. While it only sports 50 campsites, we had no trouble acquiring our own site that evening. Each site is well spaced from the others and very level. RVers as well as tent campers can find convenient shady spots with hints of Devils tower through the trees. Best of all: the bathrooms have running water.
Devils Tower National Monument
The drive to Devils Tower is composed of rolling farmland. Perhaps that is what makes the massive stone outcropping all the more magnificent: it towers over the golden prairie.
Las Palmitas
After a relatively dismal experience in Yellowstone, our outlooks needed cheering and it was lunch time. So, rather than even attempting to get to Mammoth Hot Springs, we headed west to get out of Yellowstone National Park and into the tourist trap that is West Yellowstone. Yet, along with the jumbo sized McDonalds, massive visitor's center, and ads for wolf and grizzly zoos, West Yellowstone has Las Palmitas.
Norris Geyser Basin
The Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park is interesting for many reasons. The Porcelain Basin is one of the most colorful expanses of land in Yellowstone. The variety of thermophiles that thrive in the hot, acidic environments of the basic come in a rich pallet of colors. The steamboat geyser is the worlds tallest active geyser. Unfortunately, it is notoriously unpredictable and infrequent. It does still plop up the occasional sprits of water for hopeful viewers, but that is about it. But for those interested in the macabre, there is also a body here that was never collected.
Traffic, Rangers, and Norris Geyser Basin
Today, we leave the Grand Teton National Park, headed north. Guess what’s directly north of the Grand Tetons? That’s right! Yellowstone National Park. Given we had to skip certain stops on our previous day in Yellowstone, we thought this would…
Backroad Therapy
On occasion, I have alluded to the fact that I do not drive. When I refer to my fearless driver as "my driver" it is because that is an exclusive position. I do not drive. I haven't driven for almost a decade. Instead, I lived in metropolitan areas where I could walk to work and social life could be served via mass transit.
River Road
While much of the Grand Teton National Park is paved, there is a rare off-roading opportunity on the River Road. Join buffalo and elk along the Snake River. This 12-mile gravel and boulder route winds through tall grasses and sage brush with clear views to spot wildlife and the Grand Teton Mountain Range constantly visible in the background.
Jenny Lake
Tell anyone that you are going to the Grand Tetons, and they are likely to tell you to go to Jenny Lake. It's the Old Faithful of the Grand Tetons: Everyone goes there and it is, as a result, a logistics disaster. Parking is a fiasco. Points of trails are so narrow and hazardous that one has to wait for a stream of hikers to pass before traveling in the opposite direction. The wear and tear of these visitors has lead to one of the major allures of the lake trail, Hidden Falls, to be closed for reclamation.