Hello!

This is the forth leg of the South Dakota Tour. The objective of this mini tour is to fly over the Devils Tower in Wyoming and then turn back to Rapid City flying over the Spearfish canyon and the Black Hills.

Devils Tower National Monument (Mato Tipila in Lakota) is a national monument in Crook County, Northeast Wyoming. The monument is the core of an ancient volcano; the surrounding softer rock has over time been eroded to reveal cooled magma hardened into igneous rock, appearing as fluted shafts and columns rising over 500 feet (150 m) in the air. The monolithic tower rises above the Belle Fourche River at the edge of the Black Hills region, known in this section as the Bear Lodge Mountains. The monument was established as the first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

This landmark is traditionally sacred to several Native American tribes including Lakota, Arapaho, Shoshone, Cheyenne, and Crow tribes. It is managed as a U.S. National Park and is open to the public, but travel here for non-Indigenous tourists requires awareness and respect for these sacred grounds.

Spearfish Canyon Nature Area includes the Roughlock Falls, Spearfish Falls and the Savoy Pond area. The canyon is considered one of the most beautiful locations in the Black Hills. A trail system connects all three areas and offers spectacular views of the waterfalls and foliage in the Fall.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are a lone series of mountains in the middle of the Great Plains. The nearest rocky mountains, the Bighorn Mountains, are about 100 mi (160 km) to the west. The nearest mountains to the east or south are several thousand miles away. It was formed by unknown means when some kind of 'uplift' occurred many millions of years ago. The Black Hills are possibly named black because of the Ponderosa Pine trees that grow there; young trees have black bark that turns orange as the trees mature. The Black Hills are sacred to Lakota people and were a refuge during harsh seasons on the plains. The hills unique ecosystem also provided many plants not found on the prairies that could be used for foodmaking or medicine. Nowadays the Lakota live mostly on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation a few miles to the south.

For this tour only GA or turbo props airplanes are allowed. The flight has to be flown under VFR flight rules. You can find the route description on our scheduled flights https://fshub.io/airline/ATN/routes/67708/show Follow all the instructions related to the POIs (point of interests) you have to fly over and when ready,

Have fun!