Combined Red Beds, Valley View + Tower Trails

On my first visit to Devils Tower National Monument, I completed the Red Beds and Tower Trails one after the other. On my second trip to Devils Tower, I decided to simply string them together, along with the addition of a jaunt down to Prairie Dog Town via the Valley View Trail. The decision was made to hike the loops in the opposite direction than I did that last time, which resulted in a more strenuous hike. True, the elevation is the same, but the first time I hiked the Red Beds Trail I went in clockwise direction. This amounted to the first 2/3 of the loop being down hill with all the uphill parts compressed into the final 1/3 of the loop. So, this time, it was reversed and it felt like I was going uphill almost the entire time. All that being said, there’s nothing bad about this hike because I travel to Devils Tower to see the tower and I got an ever present and ever changing view of the tower the entire time. If I’d had more time, I’d have added the Joyner Ridge Trail Loop, but that would’ve been almost another three miles and I just didn’t have time. I’ll have to plan on that the next time I visit Devils Tower.