Comments on: The devil made me go on that road trip.

Question: The devil made me go on that road trip.

445supermag — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:48:42 -0800

What are some interesting places that have the name "devil" in them (like devil's tower, or devil's postpile)? I'm thinking about visiting as many as I can.

On a recent trip, I was looking up a hike in a book and noticed that there were several sites named "devil's something" listed. Since they seem to be geologically interesting, I thought it might make a nice unifying theme for a road trip. I got 4 on that first trip without any planning (but they aren't very exciting, you can look at my crappy blog post if you like). I don't plan on doing all of them at once, but just going if the opportunity arises. I'll take satan or hell or the like also, not for any evil reason, but just because they're likely to be interesting also.

By: Seamus

Seamus — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:50:04 -0800

There's a road called the Devil's Backbone near Wimberley, Texas.

By: azlondon

azlondon — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:53:09 -0800

Hells Canyon (Oregon/Idaho border) and the Devils Punchbowl (North Oregon coast)

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:55:09 -0800

Devil's Island.

By: junkbox

junkbox — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:56:06 -0800

There's an area of flat-topped boulders on the Appalachian Trail, near McAfee's Knob, known as the Devil's Kitchen.

By: substrate

substrate — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:56:24 -0800

There's (the|a) Devil's Punchbowl in central Wisconsin. It's pretty in the spring and summer and if it ever freezes again. Some crappy pics are here.

By: ericb

ericb — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:57:04 -0800

Devil's Rock

Devil's Tower

And many places in Connecticut with the name devil in them

"If Connecticut place-names give any sort of an accurate indication, nobody ever beat the Devil for leaving a calling card all over the map of the state. With a half-dozen or so such geographical locations, there are legends explaining that the name came about because the Devil either visited or lived there, while for the rest, the devilish address seems to have stuck because they look like spots where the Evil One would feel right at home.
But those who know Connecticut history will understand where in the devil such an extraordinary number of diabolical designations really came from. For no people ever had a more devil-may-care attitude than those zealous old Puritans who trooped out of the Boston area in the 1630s to establish a worldly paradise in the Connecticut River valley. Those founders and the true believers who followed them were convinced that the Devil might really be lurking behind every bush -- and that it paid to advertise his presence and power."

By: edd

edd — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:57:25 -0800

Plenty of Devil's Kitchens about I believe, this being the one I've seen. There's the Devil's Chimney. There are multiple Devil's Cauldrons, including this one at Lydford Gorge.

All those are more than a road trip away for you, but they might give you some help when Googling for more nearby locations.

By: Miko

Miko — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:57:31 -0800

Devil's Hopyard in Connecticut.

By: ericb

ericb — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:58:03 -0800

Miko - jinx!!!

By: tangerine

tangerine — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:00:16 -0800

Devil's Hill. If you're willing to include other languages, there's Spuyten Duyvil and an assortment of Devil's Points.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:00:41 -0800

Devil's Bridge

Devil's Punch Bowl

Devil's Lake

Devil's Canyon

By: probablysteve

probablysteve — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:01:02 -0800

Devil's Lake, WI

By: Big Fat Tycoon

Big Fat Tycoon — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:01:56 -0800

Kill Devil Hills

By: kimdog

kimdog — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:02:06 -0800

Kill Devil Hills NC

By: itchie

itchie — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:03:14 -0800

All found in Jersey: Devil's Tower, Devil's Tree, and (sort of the same) Demon's Alley.

By: split atom

split atom — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:03:26 -0800

Devil's Slide in Utah

By: spicynuts

spicynuts — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:03:43 -0800

Spuyten Duyvil

Spuyten Duyvil

By: frogan

frogan — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:06:10 -0800

Devil's Triangle, aka the Bermuda Triangle
Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin
Devil's Head Resort, Wisconsin
Devil's Elbow Ski Area, Ontario, Canada
The Devil's Teeth aka the Farallon Islands, California
Devil's Slide, near Half Moon Bay, California
Devil's Gate Reservoir, near Pasadena, California

By: selfnoise

selfnoise — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:08:54 -0800

Devil's Thumb : Boulder, CO.

By: brad!

brad! — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:09:01 -0800

Hell, Michigan!

By: kneelconqueso

kneelconqueso — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:10:10 -0800

devil's tramping ground, near pittsboro, nc

By: justkevin

justkevin — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:11:38 -0800

Purgatory Chasm in Massachusetts lets you knock of three in a few minutes: The Devil's Pulpit, The Devil's Coffin and ummm... The Devil's Corn Crib.

By: Dunwitty

Dunwitty — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:11:46 -0800

There are several places called "Devil's Churn", including a couple of state parks. These are normally water features, either on a fast river, or part of a tidal feature.

The one on Oregon's North Coast is a tidal feature, a long narrow slice out of solid rock that reaches a maybe a 100 yards back into land. Water rushes in and out of the Churn at a vicious pace.

I'd link, but what the heck, you're googleriffic, I'm sure.

By: malaprohibita

malaprohibita — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:12:08 -0800

There's a Devil's Punch Bowl on the Oregon coast, too.

By: scratch

scratch — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:12:56 -0800

Slightly tangential, but there's a Sodom Road in Westchester County, NY, and another one in or near Tiverton, RI.

By: Phynix

Phynix — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:14:26 -0800

To add onto Oregon, the Devil's Punchbowl is roughly a 20 minute drive away from Devil's Lake. I wouldn't say the lake is that interesting. I live by it, and have yet to see any large monsters scaring the local population.

By: selfnoise

selfnoise — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:17:42 -0800

Oh, btw, also:

Devil's Head : Downeast Maine

By: Dunwitty

Dunwitty — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:20:05 -0800

By: Laen

Laen — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:21:29 -0800

You should ask The Geographic Names Information System.

I get 107 hits just in Oregon for "Devil", including these body parts:
Devil's Backbone
Devil's Elbow
Devil's Heel
Devil's Butte

By: AwkwardPause

AwkwardPause — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:21:56 -0800

Devil's Dyke - aptly placed near Brighton, UK.

By: The Confessor

The Confessor — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:24:23 -0800

Hell's Kitchen.

:-p

By: mdevore

mdevore — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:26:15 -0800

Google can help you with your goal perhaps more than you realize if you don't mind opening the flood-gates. Browse to maps.google.com. Type "devil's" in the location field. Add a qualifier like "geology" as a second word in the input field so you mainly get geological points of interests including caves, lakes, rock formations, rivers, mountains, and lava flows, instead of a lot of business names. The best bit is you interactively see where each site is located on the USA map along with a link for planning your road trip(s).

Click the forward arrow on the left as long as you have patience for -- you won't see a next page list, but the forward arrow will keep giving you a new set of 10 candidates for -- well, for as long as I had the patience to click it. The links get more tenuous the longer you click, but new sites continue to crop up even then.

Then repeat for "hell" and "satan".

By: SoftSummerBreeze

SoftSummerBreeze — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:30:04 -0800

Devil's Elbow, Missouri

By: cior

cior — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:31:27 -0800

Devil's Churn in Oregon was a favorite childhood hangout. Always came away sopping wet and a greater sense of mortality.

By: sammich

sammich — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:32:45 -0800

in the SF Bay Area there's Devil's Slide along the ocean and Mt. Diablo (does Spanish count?) in the East Bay

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:33:06 -0800

Devil's Golf Course in Death Valley, and the Devil's Punch Bowl near Palmdale.

By: pwb503

pwb503 — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:37:23 -0800

I think Devil's Punchbowl and Devil's Churn on the Oregon coast are the same thing... But if you're going to check it out, you might as well go another twenty miles or so and hit Devil's Elbow.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:37:51 -0800

Devil's Den, Weston, Conn.

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:38:03 -0800

in the SF Bay Area there's Devil's Slide along the ocean

soon to be bypassed by a tunnel.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:39:07 -0800

Google gives a ton of results for Devil's Hole.

Devil's Den Farm B&B in Vermont. There's a small cave by that name on the property. (It's a very popular name for small caves in the Northeast.)

There's a Sodom Rd. in Westport, MA (on the East coast!)

By: cyclopz

cyclopz — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:41:03 -0800

Hell, Cayman Islands....actually don't waste your time...the stingrays are way cooler.

By: scody

scody — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 13:41:35 -0800

Hell's Half Acre -- conveniently located on the way to Devil's Tower!

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:02:56 -0800

Devils Lake, North Dakota.

Warning: is in North Dakota.

By: lilybeane

lilybeane — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:07:21 -0800

There is a place in Missouri called Devil's Pool. I think it's on Table Rock Lake very near the Arkansas border. Can't remember the story behind it, but it's pretty.

By: zanni

zanni — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:11:03 -0800

In Death Valley you can't take two steps without tripping over something prefixed with "devil" or "hell" (or "furnace" or "bad"). fandango_matt beat me to The Devil's Golf Course, but there's also Devil's Cornfield, Devil's Hole and, I'm sure, many more.

By: plinth

plinth — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:14:23 -0800

Devil's Den in Gettysburg.

Heck, it looks like you could just have a Devil's Den visiting spree.

By: RockyChrysler

RockyChrysler — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:15:24 -0800

Devil's Sink, Sedona, AZ

By: TimeFactor

TimeFactor — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:19:52 -0800

The Hell Gate (also called Hellgate, Hellsgate and Hell's Gate) in the East River and the Bridge that spans it in NYC.

By: grahamwell

grahamwell — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:23:09 -0800

The Devil's Staircase:
In Wales
In Virginia
In Scotland
In California
In New Zealand
In Mathematics
Should keep you busy.
I know the Welsh one, it's wonderful.

By: jjg

jjg — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:28:44 -0800

Devil's Millhopper, Florida.

By: rob511

rob511 — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:33:06 -0800

Since we've moved on (over? down?) to Hell, let's not forget:
- Hell's Kitchen (Link is to the neighborhood website, with a fun obituary applauding the loss of NYC's 2012 Olympic bid to London);
- the Hellmouth à la "Buffy" (aka Sunnydale): various LA-area locations identified here and here; and
- what many consider the true setting of Satan's Gates (especially during August)

By: mullacc

mullacc — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:49:58 -0800

Sun Devil Stadium! The football stadium at Arizona State University in beautiful Tempe, AZ. Also home of the Fiesta Bowl and Arizona Cardinals (until next year when the Cardinals open their own stadium in, blech, Glendale, AZ).

By: staggernation

staggernation — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 14:53:35 -0800

Maybe Lucifer Lake... for variety's sake?

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 15:02:20 -0800

Devil's Half Acre. Nice drive or bike ride, too.

By: i_cola

i_cola — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 15:02:33 -0800

I second Devil's Dyke in Sussex, UK. Dyke Road leads to it from Brighton.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 15:05:54 -0800

There's a Devil's Bridge between Rhayder and Aberystwyth in Wales, as well as the aforementioned devil's staircase. In Wales, if the locals don't remember who built something, they blame it on the devil.

By: letourneau

letourneau — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 15:37:23 -0800

Central Massachusetts features Purgatory Chasm.

By: drstein

drstein — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 15:53:33 -0800

"Devils Lake, North Dakota.

Warning: is in North Dakota.
posted by Johnny Assay at 2:02 PM PST on January 31 [!]"

What's wrong with that? It's an absolutely beautiful area.

By: sevenless

sevenless — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 15:56:10 -0800

There's the Devil's Icebox Cave (and boardwalk!) in Rockbridge Memorial State Park near Columbia, MO. It does seem eerily cold there in the summer. Watch for bats.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:05:40 -0800

The Devil's Elbow and The Devil's Pulpit, both conveniently located at Mt. Diablo in the East Bay (SF Bay Area, California.)

By: suni

suni — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:12:11 -0800

there's a "devil's lake" in potsdam, germany

the legend says that the devil got struck by a lightning while riding in a horse carriage and he then drove down a hill into the lake and now the lake is "bottomless" and there's a treasure in it

By: charmston

charmston — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:15:07 -0800

Devil's Punch Bowl in Menomonie, WI. It's a beautiful local spot in my hometown, especially in the winter, although this unusually warm winter probably has kept it relatively snow-free.

By: scody

scody — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:30:59 -0800

Oh, and there's a Hell's Gate in New Zealand, as well.

By: dhruva

dhruva — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:34:12 -0800

There's the devil's marbles in Central Australia, but it might be a bit out of your way.

By: madstop1

madstop1 — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:51:34 -0800

Devil's Kitchen trail in Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction, Colorado

By: number9dream

number9dream — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 17:07:22 -0800

The Devil's Pulpit is a small part of the Bruce Trail, which goes through much of Ontario (Canada). That section is near a tiny town called Mono Centre.

By: toxic

toxic — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 17:25:17 -0800

Devil's Courthouse in North Carolina (where I spent time rock climbing, years ago). Also, another Devil's Stairs in NC.

While you're in the state, visit Pisgah Slides too.

By: Marit

Marit — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 17:57:58 -0800

Devil's Bathtub.

By: blindcarboncopy

blindcarboncopy — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 18:01:00 -0800

Arches national park has a ton of "devil" this, and "dark angel" that type of places. It really is quite amusing, being so deep in the mormon country and all.

By: Eothele

Eothele — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 18:37:09 -0800

Is Mt. Diablo close enough?

By: 517

517 — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 19:41:33 -0800

There's a Hell, MI if you want a little bit of diversity.

By: oddman

oddman — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 20:00:31 -0800

A different link for Devil's Millhopper, in Gainesville Fl. . It's a pretty cool place.

By: stovenator

stovenator — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 20:22:43 -0800

Devil's Crotch is an awesome ski run at Breckenridge. I highly recommend being pretty good on the slopes before trying it, though.

By: Aknaton

Aknaton — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 20:45:55 -0800

I third the Devil's Golf Course; it's one of my favorite places anywhere.
Click on the link given, and you'll see the salt formations, that make it an entirely sterile (huge) area. Go at sunset and wait for everyone else to leave, and you will hear nothing -- no birds, no insects, no burrowing animals, nothing. It really inspires awe.

By: cior

cior — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 03:52:54 -0800

pwb503: Devil's Churn is a narrow spit, Devil's Punchbowl is a looks deep basin.

Growing up in the area, I can assure you that they are not the same thing. Devil's Punchbowl is located at Otter Rock, north of Newport and Devil's Churn is near Yachats off of Cape Perpetua.

By: whatzit

whatzit — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 19:02:28 -0800

North of Devil's Lake in Wisconsin is Devil's Island-well-most-of-the-time-Peninsula, part of the Apostle Islands. The Devils there are definitely the big black flies, but the island is otherwise secluded, with lots of sand, grass, birds, and other northern things to poke around at.

If it can be in Spanish, you should definitely see La Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), part of the seemingly endless line of waterfalls in Northern Argentina at Iguazu National Park.