July 11 -13, 2021
Starting from Elkhorn RV Resort in Spearfish, we drove 70 miles to an area known as the Bear Lodge Mountains to see Devils Tower National Monument. In 1906, Teddy Roosevelt made the tower the United States’ first national monument. To get to Devils Tower, we drove through Belle Fourche, the geographic center of the nation. Next, we drove through two weathered small towns; Alladin and Hulett. The town of Hulett has a population of 400 is located 37 miles from Devils Tower. It is base camp for many seeking out the tower.
DEVILS TOWER – Landmark – Scientific Wonder – Sacred Ground- Bear Lodge – Majestic – Mysterious…all words that define Devils Tower.
Devils Tower rises up 867 feet from its base, but 1,267 feet above the tree-lined Belle Fourche River Valley. The stone formation is about 1,000 feet in diameter at the bottom and 275 feet at the top and that makes it the premier rock climbing challenge in the Black Hills.
What a Small World
When we left Devils Tower, we returned to the small town of Hulett. As we were driving thru we passed the Art Museum and were surprised to see our “RV neighbors” from the FMCA Rally. We stopped for a brief visit before moving on towards Sturgis.
Sturgis, SD
Sturgis, South Dakota is best known as the scene of the annual Black Hills Motorcycle Rally, when thousands of bikers descend on the small town in August to party, show off their riding skills, and shop the vendors who set up shop on every corner and parking lot.
Today, we drove through downtown Sturgis, but, it was very quiet. I can only imagine what it will be like in a few weeks when the motorcycle rally begins.
After driving through town, we decided to look for the new Full Throttle Saloon. We went to the saloon in 2015 just weeks before it burned to the ground. We were surprised to find out that the saloon did not rebuild on it’s original site. The new Full Throttle Saloon is actually located several miles outside of Sturgis near Bear Butte. The bar is full of motorcycle memorabilia, cool bikes and vintage parts. There is also all sorts of machinery throughout the saloon. After walking around the buildings, we stopped by the gift shop for a souvenir t-shirt. It was definitely an interesting place!
Before leaving Sturgis, we stopped by the Buffalo Chip. Supposedly, it is the Largest Music Festival in Motorcycling and offers multiple stages of entertainment, a swimming hole, bars, food, showers, cabins, RVs, camping and more. Today, there was nothing going on at the Buffalo Chip. Just wait a few weeks!
Spearfish Scenic Byway
We drove along the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, one of the oldest and most beautiful canyons in the west. The canyon spans 20-miles and is less than a mile wide.
Before returning to the RV resort, we stopped by the Historic Fish Hatchery. It was a very interesting place and the admission was free! We saw several ponds of Trout…too bad they won’t let us fish!
This was our last night in Spearfish. Tomorrow we will drive to Custer, SD!