📍Devils Tower NM (non-climbing), Wyoming

This flat, 1.3-mile loop is the gentlest possible introduction to the monolith — perfect for a travel-weary family who just wants to stretch legs and gawk. The columns rise directly overhead in places, close enough that teens will instinctively reach for their phones; underfoot it's packed dirt the whole way, easy walking even with road-stiff legs. Arrive by mid-afternoon and you'll dodge the worst of the midday crush while still catching good light on the north face.

After dinner, ease into the trip with a slow drive along this 32-mile ribbon of high-plains road, pulling off wherever the Tower catches the light differently. It's low-effort, high-reward — kids can stay in the car if they're tired, teens can hop out for photos at the pullouts, and everyone gets that first full-body sense of how enormous and empty this landscape is. The wind is constant and the horizon never stops.

Arrive by 7am and the parking lot is nearly empty — this is the golden window before tour buses and midday heat arrive. The 1.3-mile loop delivers red dust underfoot, the Belle Fourche murmuring somewhere below, and the columnar tower looming from every possible angle. It's the signature experience of the whole trip, and doing it at dawn means quieter trails and softer light for photos.

After a short water break, head onto Red Beds proper — the rust-red rock bands and ponderosa-shaded stretches make this feel like a different hike entirely from Tower Trail, even though it circles the same formation. Give teens some autonomy here to range a little ahead on the safer stretches while parents set the pace; the trail's dappled light and framed views of the Tower through pine stands are the payoff for the extra elevation change.

A cool, quiet indoor counterpoint to a hot day of hiking — worn leather, old photographs, and genuine pioneer and indigenous artifacts give context to everything you just walked through. It's compact enough that even restless teens won't check out, and the frequent benches mean nobody's standing the whole time.

Come early while the grassland is still cool and the wind hasn't picked up — standing at the edge of this 40-foot sinkhole, the silence is almost total, broken only by wind moving through dry grass. It's a strange, powerful place to end the trip: a reminder of the deep human history layered beneath this landscape long before the Tower became a monument.

One last unhurried drive along the byway, catching the Tower from angles you haven't seen yet before heading toward the airport or highway home. This is a good stretch for teens to control the playlist and call the photo stops — low-stakes autonomy on the way out.