September 25, 2024
Color Change: 85% (High)
Leaf Drop: Minimal
Spearfish Canyon is at 85% of its total fall color saturation and is nearing its peak and most vibrant fall colors. Nearly every turn along the byway is bursting with golden hues from birch, aspen, and elms. My favorite areas today were the uppermost elevations near Calamity Gulch as you’re driving into the Canyon from Spearfish and between Botany Bay and Bridal Veil Falls. Locate these spots on the Spearfish Canyon Leaf Watching Map
The trees surrounding the Bridal Veil Falls overlook have not yet reached peak color, but look into the upper cliffs to the southwest as you approach the parking area for a beautiful display of fall colors. Between Botany Bay and Bridal Veil is also where I saw 10 mountain goats grazing this evening! They hung around for several hours. I still expect a bit more color change around Victoria and Long Valley Picnic Area. It was at least 10 degrees cooler in the Canyon, compared to the mini heat wave we’re experiencing today and into the weekend. Step outside your car and feel those Canyon cool breezes!
More often than not, I see people fly fishing at the Maurice Intake when I’m surveying the Canyon. The water is shallow there, only about 4 feet at its max and the area is easily accessible from a pull-off right next to the Canyon byway.
Maurice gets its name from the old town site that was once located there. The hydro plant at Maurice was one of two hydroelectric plants built and used by the Homestake Mining Company to support mining operations. The Maurice hydro plant was completed in 1917. Building the Maurice water diversion was a decade-long undertaking. The process involved cutting through rock, laying tunnels, and placing trestles to redirect the powerful Spearfish Creek to the hydroelectric plants at Maurice and in Spearfish.
Homestake used the power generated from the Maurice Diversion for nearly 100 years, then sold the facility to the City of Spearfish. To control the facility, the City needed to get licensed to run the hydro plant by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). A stipulation of that license was to release some water to the downstream habitat. Several miles of creek channel dried up as a result of the early 1900s diversion.
The Maurice Diversion is actually designed to overflow. There is a maximum amount of water that can come through the 5-mile underground tunnel to Spearfish. When large rainfall amounts accumulate or snow melts in the spring, the excess flows over and into the natural stream bed. As I talked about in my September 3, 2024 leaf report, Spearfish Creek runs through the Canyon until around Split Rock. Split Rock is a water loss zone. Water disappears underground through the porous limestone. Some believe that if Spearfish Creek didn’t divert water at Maurice, there would be much less water as we know it in Spearfish Creek, especially in dry years like we’ve had this year.
