The Entrance Road at

Devils Tower National Monument Devils Tower (also known as Bear Lodge Butte) is a butte, possibly laccolithic, composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills, near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fo ...

, officially known as Wyoming Highway 110, is a scenic road that provides the approach to the Devil's Tower eminence, affording planned views to arriving visitors.

Route description

The Wyoming Highway 110 designation is a short roadway that starts its at

Wyoming Highway 24 Wyoming Highway 24 (WYO 24), also known as the Bear Lodge Highway, is a state highway in Crook County, Wyoming, United States. that connects U.S. Route 14 (US 14) in Carlile Junction with South Dakota Highway 34 (SD 34) at the S ...

and travels west to the

Entrance. Mileposts along WYO 110 increase from east to west. The entrance road is a long, two-lane, asphalt paved road that spans the distance between the Entrance Station and the visitor parking area located just west of Devil's Tower. The road provides access to the monument's primary developed areas, such as headquarters and visitor center.

History

The road was originally constructed in 1917 with an eight percent grade and a ford at the

Belle Fourche River The Belle Fourche River (pronounced ''bel FOOSH''; lkt, Šahíyela Wakpá) is a tributary of the Cheyenne River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is part of the Mississippi River watershed via the Cheyenn ...

. A bridge was built in 1928, and the road was extensively altered in the 1930s with labor from the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

, improving grades and alignments. CCC camp NM-1 remained at Devil's Tower from 1935 to 1938. A complete loop was planned by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

Engineering Division in 1927, but was never carried out. The entrance road at Devils Tower is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as an example of close integration with the natural surroundings. Much of the CCC work involved realignment of the existing road and the careful obliteration of the old alignment, using young trees and sod stockpiled during construction of the new alignment.

Major intersections

References

External links

National Park Service
Devils Tower First Fifty Years: The Early Years
Devils Tower Entrance Road
at Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office {{NRHP in Crook County, Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Devils Tower National Monument Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Transportation in Crook County, Wyoming Civilian Conservation Corps in Wyoming 1917 establishments in Wyoming National Park Service rustic in Wyoming

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links