Sacred to Native Americans, Devils Tower was designated a national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. The fluted monolith rises 867ft from its base; the top covers 1.5 acres. A scored butte with a talus slope, Devils Tower is the core of an igneous intrusion that became exposed as surrounding sedimentary rock eroded. Today it is most readily identified as the landmark for interplanetary spacecraft in the 1977 Steven Spielberg movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The first ascent of the peak was made on July 4, 1893, as more than 1,000 spectators watched; today 5,000 climbers a year challenge themselves on its vertical rock walls.Although the parking lot gets crowded, the butte is worth the bother, especially for those who hike the paved, interpretive 1.3mi Tower Trail around its base. The more rugged 3mi Red Beds Trail, from which the Bighorn Mountains can be seen 150mi to the west, also has a trailhead in front of the Visitor Center.