Here nature has beautified the earth with all shades of buff, cream, pale green, gold, and rose. Fantastically carved erosion forms rise above the valleys, some of them 150 to 300 feet high.
The constantly shifting color and the weird formations make this a region of strong imaginative appeal.
JEWEL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT
A unique coating of dogtooth calcite crystals which sparkle like jewels in the light distinguish Jewel Cave from other crystal caverns in the Black Hills and provided its name.
One of the finest stands of virgin ponderosa pine remaining in the Black Hills is found within the monument which was established in 1908. It was originally part of the present Harney National Forest but was transferred to the National Park Service, by Executive Order, in 1934.
DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT
Another unusual natural phenomenon of the Black Hills country is the Devils Tower across the South Dakota state line in Wyoming. This is a great column of igneous rock towering 1,280 feet above the Belle Fourche river, whose course is near the base. Devils Tower has the distinction of being the first national monument created under the Antiquities Act of 1906. It was established by proclamation of September 24 of that year, by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Devils Tower in Wyoming’s western border of the Black Hills National Forest.