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How Devils Tower Wyoming Formed: Geology and Legends of Devils Tower Explained

Maria Baias
Sep 30
4 min read

Devils Tower Wyoming rises like a giant stone sentinel in the heart of Wyoming—an ancient monolith wrapped in mystery, geology, and legend. But what exactly is this bizarre tower of rock? Was it formed by volcanic activity… or carved by supernatural forces, as Native legends suggest?

This post is all about Devils Tower Wyoming, a place where the powerful forces of nature meet cultural heritage. We’ll explore how nature sculpted these dramatic columns and how Native American stories breathe life and meaning into these ancient columns. And finally, I’ll reveal where you’ve might have seen the Devils Tower before—without even realizing it!

What is Devils Tower

Devils Tower is a mysterious, towering rock formation that shoots 1,267 feet straight up from the Wyoming landscape, like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

Or exactly like in a sci-fi movie. But we'll get back to that later...

Found in the Black Hills region of northeastern Wyoming, this natural skyscraper is part of the Bear Lodge Mountains. It is made up of hexagonal columns—some as wide as six feet!

The site has deep cultural roots for Native American tribes, who’ve long honored it with names like Bear Lodge, Bear’s Tipi, Bear's Lair, and Tree Rock. However, the official name is Devils Tower (no apostrophe!) and it is actually rooted in a mistranslation from an 1875 expedition, when the interpreter wrongly translated the name as Bad God's Tower, which then became Devils Tower.

While the U.S. Government designated the feature as Devils Tower, there are hopes that the name Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark will be also recognized for the site to honor its Native American ties.

Geology of Devils Tower Wyoming

The geological history of Devils Tower started around 50 million years ago with an upward surge of magma from deep within the Earth’s crust. But it never made it all the way to the surface. Instead, this magma became trapped beneath layers of sedimentary rock and it slowly began to cool underground. As the magma cooled and hardened, it formed an igneous intrusion known as laccolith.

The igneous rock that makes up Devils Tower is called phonolite porphyry, composed of large feldspar crystals embedded in a fine-grained base, and characterized by its unique columnar jointing pattern.

Columnar jointing pattern

Columnar jointing pattern is the defining feature of Devils Tower, formed when magma intruded into surrounding sedimentary rocks and began to cool slowly underground. As the magma cools and begins to solidify, it contracts. This contraction builds up stress in the rock, causing it to crack in a distinctive, often hexagonal pattern. The result? A series of tall, side-by-side columns that usually stand vertical or slightly tilted. Most of these columns are six-sided, but a few have four, five, or even seven sides.

That's the secret behind these columns that stretch even hundreds of feet tall and up to six feet wide to create the spectacular Devils Tower. We can find similar hexagonal columns in other geological wonders around the world, like the Devils Postpile National Monument in California and the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, though with different histories.

Erosion of softer rock

Going back to Devils Tower, this geological marvel wasn’t always towering above the landscape. For millions of years, it was completely buried beneath layers of much softer rock. Gradually, weathering agents like the wind, rain, and ice eroded that overlying material, leaving behind the much tougher and more resistant rocks that we see at Devils Tower today.

Devils Tower now rises 1,267 feet above the surrounding Wyoming landscape, a natural monument sculpted by fire, fractured by cooling, and revealed by time. It's not just a rock—it's a geological storybook, frozen in stone and standing tall for all to see.

Cultural Heritage of Devils Tower

Long before the geologists came up with their theories about the formation of Devils Tower, Native American tribes already had powerful stories about its creation, rich with sacred significance, supernatural elements, and one giant and very determined bear.

Devils Tower Wyoming — Devils Tower, Wyoming

The legends of various tribes feature young girls chased by a giant bear. While each version has its own details, a common thread is that as the bear approached, the children climbed onto a rock and prayed for help. Answering their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise toward the sky, lifting the girls out of harm’s way. But the giant bear didn't want to give up that easily. It used its giant claws to try to climb after the girls scratching the sides of the tower. The scratches he made in his attempt to climb are the deep vertical grooves that we see etched into the tower today.

With these common similarities of the story, each tribe has its own distinct version, adding unique cultural details that set them apart. Here are just a few examples:

The Lakota call the tower Mato Tipila, meaning "Bear Lodge." In their stories, it’s not just a towering refuge but also a sacred place of worship.

In the Kiowa legend, the story ends in the stars. The rock lifted seven girls into the sky, where they became the seven stars of the Pleiades constellation, still shining brightly to this day.

The Crow tell of two young girls nearly caught by a bear near “Bear’s House.” Saved by the rock that rose beneath them, they watched from above as the bear tried — and failed — to climb after them. The girls are still up there.

These aren’t just myths—they’re living oral histories, representing a crucial part of each tribe's cultural heritage. And while the science explains how cooling magma formed the tower, the Native stories remind us of the deep spiritual connection people have with this land.