DEVIL’S TOWER, SD: Today we planned to visit Devil’s Tower National Monument on our way to Keyhole State Park. We traveled the smaller state Highway 212 and came into Devil’s Tower from the north. It’s a pretty drive across the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations.
FIRE: We’re learning to read the sky/horizon more now since radio/TV/cell/internet is sporadic. As we got closer to Devil’s Tower we saw clouds that were coming up from the ground, not the sky, covering a large area towards Keyhole SP. Turns out there are 2 wildfires, one just east of the state park we’re supposed to stay in tonight (!) and they had to evacuate several campgrounds on Friday night. We called the park and they told us the park was still open. So, we decided to enjoy our visit to Devil’s Tower.
We walked the trail around the base of Devil’s Tower, listened to a ranger presentation and watched the prairie dogs in the meadow below the tower.
Another call to the state park verified that it was still open but roads to the east of the park were closed, including I-90. They gave us an alternate route and we got there safely.
LESSON: The farther you get from Google Headquarters, the less reliable Google Maps becomes. Pros: it’s great to supplement what you already have such as a different level of detail but double check it against your GPS and a paper map! Cons: All the cities/towns have the same size font so you have no idea how big they are. The routes it comes up with may include gravel or dirt roads! This happens more often in Montana and Wyoming where there are LOTS of dirt and gravel roads.