The Ancient Volcano in Wyoming; Devils Tower 

Today, Devils Tower can be visited within Devils Tower National Monument. I went to the area several years ago, and would recommend the experience.

What's really cool is that you can make a perfect replica of this iconic landmark in your own home just from the use of a plate of mashed potatoes and a fork. Thanks Steven!

It’s pretty remarkable driving up to Devils Tower. It’s mostly flat around the area and you can see it from about 20 miles away and it feels like it’s not supposed to be there.

I've been to Devil's Tower. It's even more impressive in context because the landscape surrounding it is mostly rolling plains. So you're driving along and crest a hill and suddenly there's this THING in the middle of the countryside. It's considered sacred by the local Indian tribes, and although it is not illegal to climb it, the tribes ask people not to.

My family and I went to Devils Tower a few years ago. Devils Tower is in a pretty isolated location, but it’s well worth the drive. I would highly recommend hiking the trail that circles the base of the tower. It’s a beautiful and very impressive hike.

This looks like a giant petrified tree base to me. Truly magnificent!

I once saw a pile of mashed potatoes on a plate that looked just like this.

I'm a 68 year old American man living in Iowa. About twenty years ago I rode out to this Sacred Monument on my motorcycle. I appreciate knowing more about how it was likely formed.

Fascinating! I’ve had quite the interest in Devil’s Tower since I first saw Close Encounters in 1978 when I was 11 or 12. I even made a model of it out of chicken wire, papier-mâché, and modeling clay as a science fair project in middle school. I believe my diagrams of it were terribly wrong, just showing the magma column cooling inside a shield volcano that then eroded away. I’m glad to hear more accurate ideas about its formation!

I can't look at the images without hearing the five tones.

There is a similar Rock "Tower" in Germany called the "Hohentwiel". In the medieval ages people even built a castle on top. It's said the mountain was eroded by a glacier however.

Can you expand on the geologic formation of the Black Hills (technically mountains) in South Dakota, which the Devils Tower is part of? I briefly learned about it when I was there, and I think it's super interesting, especially considering how it's like a isolated region in the middle of prairie land.

Back in the late 80's we camped at the KOA there near Devil's tower. (Not sure it's still there though). Just as the sun started going down they showed Close Encounters of the 3rd kind on a wall of the building outside with the tower visible just to the right of the building. It was a very unique experience.

I camped there one cold winter night about 18 years ago. Got up early and walked around the base before anyone else was around. It's a wonderful geologic formation to behold....

Devils Tower is so cool! It almost looks like some gigantic ancient tree that was cut long ago! Awesome

We went and checked this out a number of years back on our three week western tour road trip with the kids, one of our most memorable and fun three weeks of our lives.

The fact that the top of devils tower was once a ground level is terrifying.

Seeing the beautiful pictures at 1:00 - 1:15 makes me look closely for discarded shipping cartons marked "ACME"...

Something so unique, I definitely took it for granted growing up. Lived about 6 miles east of here!

Went in 2020 & stayed at the campground beside the tower. It is ridiculous. Absolutely amazing 🤩

It is a strange thing to see in real life. I've passed by it a few times over the years and it's hard to take your eyes off of it. Fascinating.

This was the thing built for the movie Close Encounters of the First Kind back in 1977. It has held up really good.

This place is on my traveling bucket list.. I would love to see it in person one of these days..

I love the way you use google earth so that we can not only hear things but we can see things ourselves.

I visited Devil's Tower several years ago and you really can't imagine how magnificent this thing really is until you're standing at the bottom of it. Pictures and video do it absolutely no justice. Tons of rock climbers were scaling it and many of them had hammocks set up, literally hanging off the side of it hundreds of feet up from the base. While seeing people hang from this enormous tower in flimsy little hammocks was a bit hard to stomach, it was definitely a great experience.

Anyone else unavoidably hear that tune from close encounters every time they see devil's tower?

A similar (but smaller) formation made of basalt can be seen at Mammoth, CA. It is called the Devil's Postpiles and they have the same hexagonal shape. Very interesting.

I've wanted to see Devils Tower since I was a kid after I watched ''Close Encounters of The Third Kind'..., I want to see it with my own eyes. When I went to the Grand Canyon years ago I was blown away and speechless..., some things in nature are a wonder to behold. 👍🙂

Every 10,000 years or so one of the hexagonal columns drop away from the tower. You can see them at the base. There are also named climbing paths up the groves between the columns with remnants of old wooden ladders in some areas. The top has it's own mini ecosystem. There are hundreds of prairie dogs at the entrance. There is a place between there and Gillette where you can find fossilized sharks teeth where the giant ant mounds are. And there is another volcano remnant not near as big and symmetrical in the SW corner of WY called Boars Tusk. Yes, it kind of looks like one. Plus you have Yellowstone in the NW corner which is a must see.

The island of Staffa, SW Scotland, has a similar form but rising from the sea and still retaining a cap of other rocks. The giant's causeway, Antrim Northern Ireland is linked to it and both have the same hexagonal construction.

Immediately recognized it from Close encounters of the third kind! Great movie. 👍

“Close Encounters of the Third kind” - Richard Dreyfuss.

Walked around the base trail and enjoyed it immensely. Top spot!

There's a ancient volcano in Australia called the Cerberean Caldera which underwent a super eruption 374 Mya, which in turn contributed to the Late Devonian Extinction event . Please do a video on this volcano I want to find out more about it .

Every time I see this mountain that melody comes to my mind.

My mom lived about 10-15 minutes away as the crow flies. It’s even more incredible looking up close.

Those hexagon formations are phenomenal.

Close encounters of the third kind

Near Melbourne, Australia, there is a an area called the Organ Pipes National Park, which has a large outcropping of hexagonal lava. It's just off the Calder Highway, and is a site I often visited in the past :)

My wife and I visited Devils Tower on the motorcycle this last Labor Day weekend (Friday/Saturday). First time for both of us. Very impressive! I wasn’t sure what to expect, wondering if it was smaller than how it might have been presented in media (i.e., CEotTK). From a distance, it does seem kind of like it could be a little smaller than it actually is, but it’s all perspective. The closer you get, it becomes obvious just how massive it really is, especially when you hike right up to its base, well into the scree. It’s HUGE! As others mentioned, we were riding along through rolling hills, expecting to see it soon, then suddenly, there it is. It stands out so wildly different than the surrounding countryside. Definitely a bucket-list item! One thing to note: if you go there on a holiday weekend, be sure to get there absolutely as early as possible. Skip breakfast (or have it already prepared and bring it with you), do what you have to do, but get there early. We got there late afternoon on Friday, visited the upper parking area (as close as you can drive to it) for a while, then headed to the Best Western we’d booked just a few miles away. Then, early that Saturday (maybe 8AM?), we rode to the upper parking area again without any trouble. After hiking to the base, and coming back out, the upper parking area was completely full. We rode back down, and after about a mile or so, we saw where the rangers had stopped traffic and were letting cars go up only as others came back out. The line of vehicles behind that was over a mile long, back past the entrance to the park. There was also a very long line of cars stopped on the way out, as the park collected fees when exiting, rather than upon entrance. Being on a motorcycle, we quickly rode past the whole line on the shoulder after I held up my National Parks Pass and the ranger on foot near the start of that line just waved us on through to take the shoulder. If you have a Pass, keep it handy. That saved us a lot of time.

The Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland has the same hexagon shaped columns.

I spent a day at the tower a while back. One of the highlight of my western road trip.

Those hexagonal shapes are theeeeee coolest part! May the architects of the world take notes on the success of building with this shape!

I love learning geography. Bravo, thank you for this video!

That is most interesting how a volcano can create a stone hexagon and a bee hive makes a similar shaped honeycomb one. It looks like a monolithic supersized redwood tree base.

This is BS everyone knows Richard Dreyfuss made it out of mashed potatoes

Everywhere you go you hear the same description over and over, “This area was once covered by a shallow sea.” Yes, it was, 15 cubits deep.

We visited this awe inspiring site on our move from Seattle to Texas. It's absolutely beautiful and amazing, and a little spooky.

“It started cooling from the top down so it created hexagon shapes” like what sense does that make? At least explain why. Lol

There is similar towering columnar formation close to the "Chaine des Puys" volcanics complex in France and I was lucky to see massives collumnar basalts in Abitibi ( 2,677 Ma) and in Nunavik (1870 Ma ), all in Quebec, Canada. Still don't understand why peoples think that these are trees... You clearly can see that this is volcanics rocks.

Amazing videos! Love the work. Could I please suggest a topic on the former Super Volcano on the east coast of Australia (Mt Warning and the Tweed Valley caldera)?

it really is such an awe inspiring location all around. what most don't know without visiting is that there is also a beautiful canyon alongside the road you take to get there, as well as prairie dog fields right next to the tower itself. the trail around it gives an amazing view of the landscape as it is much higher than the surrounding plains, and on the north side (i believe) there is an amazing bunch of trees with native american prayer cloths tied to them. natives are against climbing the tower, and out of respect doing so is not permitted in june.

Same as the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland and Fingals Cave on the Isle of Staffa...

I like the native story the best. IT IS THE PETRIFIED TRUNK OF A GIANT TREE.

Amazing! It is much more beautiful than I remembered, I saw Devils Tower in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind and I fell in love…

Amazing natural structure! Looking at the vertical striae I recalled pictures of the similar hex shaped stone structure at Giant's Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland. Volcanic origins are suspected there as well.

Geology/Rock Collecting has always been a fascination for me since I was a kid. I always thought the Devils Tower was a Volcanic Plug of some sort, but I did not know how it formed compared to others. Glad to hear your theory on how. Has this phenomenon with the hexagon shaped rock occurred elsewhere, it appears familiar? Thank you for the video, always interesting.

It really does look like a prehistoric tree stump, how cool!

Thank you very much! Very detailed. I especially liked that!

I was always told that it was a Batholith, which is a huge bubble of magma that is thrust to the surface and then when it hits the air it is rapidly cooled causing the squared off rock formations.

Another fascinating discussion of America's geological wonders. Thanks for this!

Thank you. Oh, in the early 70’s I climbed it. What a view from on top…..

While moving across the country last summer my family took the time for a nice roadtrip. We drove two hours out of our way to see Devil’s Tower and Mt Rushmore. Lucky us it was fogged in. Like HEAVY fog. We walked around Devil’s tower and could only see abotut 50 ft up.

Unrelated, but do you realize that you sound very similar to Prof. Hawkins' speech app.? 😊 Very interesting, I had gleaned that the Devil's tower was what was left of the core of a volcano, but this explains much more, thanking you for the knowledge. 👍🏻

Remember "close encounters of the 3rd kind" some conspiracy theories call it a tree stump, um okay but it doesn't have tree rings, it's really cool there.

Makes me feel like eating mashed potatoes.

Is the naming of Devil's Postpile in Mammoth Lakes related to this or vice versa? The geologic features are pretty much identical with the hexagonal columns

BEEN HERE TWICE, LAST WAS 2014. GREAT AREA TO VISIT, AND THE LANDSCAPE WAS VERY SCENIC.

Interesting, thank you. We have similar hexagon shaped rocks in Scotland, at Fingals Cave, and of course over in Northern Ireland, at the giants causeway. Not a tower like this, but similar rock hexagons.

Visiting Devil's Tower some years ago I noticed several similar, but smaller "towers" before we got to Devi's Tower itself.

Thanks planning a trip there this year.

First time I ever heard of this place was Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind in theaters and have never forgotten it.

The coloms, when sliced across, would make excellent pavers, or, well fitting pieces of a stone wall, laid horozontaly.

Would that process be similar to how "Giant's Causeway" was formed?.

Went there in 1993. Had to when in that part od America after seeing 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. We were no disappointed! Amazing! There were about ten people visiting and three or four climbing the edifice. Today, I suppose you could multiply that by 100!

Fascinating.

Will you please do a longer video on the shallow inland sea in North America? You touched on it briefly here. We have massive sandstone cliffs in Billings MT and I have been told they were part of the ancient beaches.

In Québec, Canada, there is a series of small mountains that were formed by lava. A good example is 《Mont Royal》, witch sits in the middle of the city of Montreal.

There’s a KOA located right near the base of Devils Tower and you can chill at your campsite and have a perfect view of people climbing it during the day

It is a beautiful area of the country out there. The Grand Tetons 👀 are great to see also. If you have the time you should visit Montana also. My favorite state.

The fact that nearly a kilometer of sediment eroded away in that time is mind boggling.

I am from Mississippi and have read we have an extinct volcano under Jackson. Can you do a video on it?

Fascinating thank you

Ive seen these hexagonal pillar cooling joints in Tully gorge North Queensland, which are the magma flows that filled previous river valley.

There are human beings who actually think that the devil's tower is a tree stump

Thank you for your content. Would love to see an episode on Table Rock in Oregon

I always wondered why they only ever showed that one angle so it was cool to see some other sides to it. I may have to Google Earth it for a closer view now. :)

If I understood: from 50 mya to 5 mya much of the surrounding sedimentary rock eroded away? Wow! That blows my mind. Thank you for sharing this content.

My new hobby is looking forward to the daily videos describing various random volcanos from you. Thank you. I haven't seen the Columbia Plateau Basalt groups done yet?

Always been intrigued by this formation - thank you !!

This was awesome!!! I’m from New Mexico, we have a lot of different flows here, videos about those would be very cool!

That's amazing information and it makes sense😎👍

This was so interesting to me. I often wondered about Devil's Tower. I assumed it was what was left after millions of years of weathering, and the specific type of rock was resistant enough to remain. I had a little bit right, but I never understood the complete history of the area and this imposing structure. Thank you! There is a reason geology was my favorite subject back in school.

Mount Katahdin in Maine is similar, the inner core of a volcano exposed by millions of years of erosion. All sorts of pink granite.

Latest research says that actually might be an old tree because of the shapes you mentioned just thought I'd mention that

That's interesting you would think the Maar Diatreme Theory is the best fit to evidence on-hand. I've been to the area and find either the Laccolith or Volcanic Neck Theory to better fit the features on the ground. The point of agreement however, is that there was some kind of magmitic intrusion that cooled slowly to form the hexagonal "crystals". We live in an era where one needs to be wary of information on RU-vid. I watched one video about the hexagonal basalt crystal formations in Yellowstone that proposed they were the result of rapid cooling!! Most people with any knowledge of state-transition knows that it takes a slow cooling without significant disturbance to grow any kind of crystal. The prolonged, unimpeded cooling is what allows the rock/ mineral to line up complimentary to it's atomic structure. Flash-freezing just makes a dense undifferentiated mass.

The "columnar" jointing is created by a high tier fluid magma that is cooled over a long period of time. The maga recipe (mineral make-up) will determine the cooling matrix. Very beautiful stuff.... This is common in the Columbia Plateau complex...Eastern Washington. Very fluid magma and in abundance and slow cooling allows the minerals to precipitate out to create the hex matrix

Everyone knows that Devils Tower isn't a Volcano but a giant tree stump!

Just another incredible monument that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before America really is such a magnificent place I must see it for myself one day

You should do a video about the purple quartzite around devils lake in baraboo, Wisconsin.