For those looking for a slightly more extended, less crowded, and more challenging trail in Devils Tower National Monument, there is the Red Beds Trail. The 2.8 mile dirt 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.
Perhaps in the spring this trail has something special to offer. Otherwise, the trail is a bit of a let down. Unobstructed views of the tower are rare along the trail. Hikers can only see hints of the tower as it is concealed by the surrounding forest at many points. One rare portion of the trail that does have views of the tower owes that open space to a fire which burned down the trees that would normally conceal the view. It makes for a poor perspective. The trail is better suited for vistas of the farmland that stretches all around the tower.
We took the trail in a clockwise loop. The trail splits from the Tower Trail, to the left and then circles the tower. In hindsight, it looks like the hike would be more dramatic from the counter-clockwise direction. That would mean taking the trailhead on the south side of the parking lot. In this direction, hikers would travel along a ridge to the north of the tower and hike towards the tower and enjoy that view rather than hiking away from it as we did.
