30 Nebraskaland • July 2019
estern Nebraska has many landforms labeled
canyons. Each contradicts Nebraska's "fl at"
stereotype, but a true box canyon – one featuring
steep walls on each side with single access for
entrance and exit – is a rarity in the state.
One site in the northwest corner of the Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission's northwestern-most property fi lls the bill
as such even though it does not carry the name. The crevice
known as Devil's Den, which is geologically carved below
the rugged ponderosa pine forest at Gilbert-Baker Wildlife
Management Area, is a gem among the many scenic treasures
at this public land in beautiful northern Sioux County.
Scenic crannies with steep walls at the head of drainages
are not uncommon in the Pine Ridge, but, at more than 500
feet long and as deep as 75 feet in places, this one has to be
the most spectacular. Perhaps what makes it most special is
its width. At only 10-25 feet wide, there are places along the
canyon fl oor where the sky becomes obscured by overlapping
irregularities of the towering walls above.
My fi rst visit to Devil's Den came in May 2016 by invitation
of Wayne and Janece Mollhoff of Ashland. Wayne, one of the
state's most ardent birdwatchers, had stumbled on to the den
on a previous visit to the Pine Ridge and considered it worthy
for a Nebraskaland photographer to see.
Upon meeting at the Gilbert-Baker parking area along
Monroe Canyon Road, Wayne handed me a photocopied
image of a Nebraska History Magazine cover that featured
a photo from a 1911 University of Nebraska expedition to
Sioux County.
Later, I reveled in reading the journal from that early
20th century expedition, written with astute comments
and splashes of humor by one of the state's most renowned
naturalists, the late Frank Shoemaker. The journal, which
chronicles the June 17-July 2 excursion of that year, provides
fascinating insight and observations of the natural world at
various sites around Sioux County.
The expedition party, which traveled by train from Lincoln
to Harrison, consisted of Shoemaker and six others, including
W
Scientists of yesteryear agree:
this crevice in far northwestern
Nebraska is in a class by itself.
The Devine
Devil's
Den
STORY AND
PHOTOS BY
JUSTIN
HAAG
