September 23, 2024
It’s officially the fall season, and Spearfish Canyon is revealing her fall colors. The Canyon is currently at 70% change toward peak colors. The southeast cliff slope that greets you on the byway as you’re nearing Bridal Veil Falls is full of golden hues. Sumac shrubs were still surprisingly green today. But, I did find a grouping of sumac that have turned their radiant reds adjacent to the Kissing Rocks, about eight miles into the Canyon from Spearfish. There were also many fast chipmunks running around this area, too. These rodents were probably snacking on acorns from oaks. The oak trees I saw were still green in color. We are still waiting for peak fall colors at Savoy, but the leaves are moving along in their transition and definitely still worth seeing!
It’s officially the fall season, and Spearfish Canyon is revealing her fall colors. The Canyon is currently at 70% change toward peak colors. The southeast cliff slope that greets you on the byway as you’re nearing Bridal Veil Falls is full of golden hues. Sumac shrubs were still surprisingly green today. But, I did find a grouping of sumac that have turned their radiant reds adjacent to the Kissing Rocks, about eight miles into the Canyon from Spearfish. There were also many fast chipmunks running around this area, too. These rodents were probably snacking on acorns from oaks. The oak trees I saw were still green in color. We are still waiting for peak fall colors at Savoy, but the leaves are moving along in their transition and definitely still worth seeing!
I had a moment last week where I realized it’s time to have that spare jacket or blanket in my car for evening events or outside sports games. The swings in temperature, like we’ll see this week, from a cool 40-degree Sunday night to high-80s later in the week, are a sign to the trees that winter is coming. But temperature is not the most important signal to the leaves that it’s time to change colors. What is the most important signal?
The most important factor driving the fall color change is the shortening of the day length. It basically all comes down to this: Fall colors emerge as the leaves stop their food-making process. Throughout the spring and summer, trees are continually producing chlorophyll which makes the leaves appear green. That process is slowing down and stopping right now for deciduous trees in the Canyon. When the chlorophyll breaks down, the green colors disappear and the yellows, oranges, rusts become visible.
Yesterday, Sunday, Sept. 22, was the Fall Equinox for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere. The Earth is tilted in such a way that the most intense sun’s rays hit the equator at around 6:43am Mountain Time on Sept. 22, thereby evenly dividing daylight and nighttime hours. As the Earth continues to spin around the sun with its tilted axis, we’ll see continually shorter days and longer nights. This will all start to change again on December 21, the Winter Solstice. On that day we’ll experience our shortest number of daylight hours for the year and begin to see increasingly longer days into spring and summer thereafter.
September 20, 2024
The fall foliage in Spearfish Canyon is now at 65% of peak color change. Fall officially begins on Sunday. After a windy week here in Spearfish, we are in for a hot day today followed by a mild, sunny weekend. The area southeast of Devil’s Bathtub parking lot is the closest to peak color of any area I’ve seen in the Canyon. Watch for delicate, purple bellflowers as you walk from the parking lot to the trail this weekend. The Savoy Bowl and areas around Spearfish Canyon Lodge are dotted with golden yellows, especially in the higher elevations around the cliffs.
The fall foliage in Spearfish Canyon is now at 65% of peak color change. Fall officially begins on Sunday. After a windy week here in Spearfish, we are in for a hot day today followed by a mild, sunny weekend. The area southeast of Devil’s Bathtub parking lot is the closest to peak color of any area I’ve seen in the Canyon. Watch for delicate, purple bellflowers as you walk from the parking lot to the trail this weekend. The Savoy Bowl and areas around Spearfish Canyon Lodge are dotted with golden yellows, especially in the higher elevations around the cliffs.
A drive or hike through the Canyon this weekend will feel like fall, both in terms of weather and in foliage. Here’s a tip for witnessing the season in transition: Find a spot of conifers (evergreen spruce and pines) and compare with the surrounding deciduous trees (birch, aspen, willow, boxelder). That’s when you’ll really see the deciduous trees’ lightning colors as they move into yellow. Some emerging colors are not obvious, so give yourself time to watch, listen, and see the Canyon.
September 18, 2024
Spearfish Canyon is at 55% change toward its peak colors in fall foliage. We typically see the brightest, most vibrant vegetation in the Canyon sometime between September 23 through early October. When I drove through the Canyon on Wednesday, I noticed significantly more yellow than on my other Canyon visits. Specifically, I noticed elms turning golden around Rim Rock Lodge and red Viginia Creeper in the forest understory. The roadway south of Devil’s Bathtub parking lot continues to move more quickly toward peak color than the rest of the Canyon. Watch for evolving lime greens and yellows in those leaves.
Color Change: 55% (Moderate)
Spearfish Canyon is at 55% change toward its peak colors in fall foliage. We typically see the brightest, most vibrant vegetation in the Canyon sometime between September 23 through early October. When I drove through the Canyon on Wednesday, I noticed significantly more yellow than on my other Canyon visits. Specifically, I noticed elms turning golden around Rim Rock Lodge and red Viginia Creeper in the forest understory. The roadway south of Devil’s Bathtub parking lot continues to move more quickly toward peak color than the rest of the Canyon. Watch for evolving lime greens and yellows in those leaves. At the Bowl at Savoy we are still seeing mostly lightening greens in the deciduous trees, but there is definitely a sprinkling of golden hues in the forest. Download the Spearfish Canyon Leaf Map before your trek into the Canyon to locate these high-interest spots.
Today I enjoyed viewing Savoy’s cliffs and treescape from Buzzard’s Roost atop the ’76 Trail. The trail was built in 2000, but it’s history dates back to the Black Hills Gold Rush (1874-1879).
The ’76 Trail was born even before the town of Savoy officially had its own name! And does that trail have stories to tell! Miners like “Doc” Wing and Potato Creek Johnny Perrett would traverse the 16-mile mining trail coming from Deadwood. Walking along the ’76 Trail leads to Bear Gulch where the “Wing gold nugget was found, reported to be the largest of the Black Hills Gold Rush. The trail also finds its way to Potato Creek where Perrett aka the legendary “Potato Creek Johnny” found a rival gold nugget. You can see Perrett’s golden find in person if you visit the Adams Museum in Deadwood.
It is my understanding that an agreement between Spearfish Canyon Foundation, Homestake, and the U.S. Forest Service led to building the trail. The U.S. Forest Service provided engineering design and materials for the water bars used to divert water or prevent erosion. Spearfish Canyon Foundation provided labor and completed the construction of the trail.
The trailhead is located near Spearfish Canyon Lodge and the Roughlock Falls Trailhead in Savoy. Get ready for a very steep hike! The ¾ mile trail climbs 1,000 feet. There are several benches on the hike for a climbing break. It took me about an hour to hike up and back. You’ll see spruce, pine, birch, aspen, wild sarsaparilla, mountain holly and more during this nature walk. An aspen and birch grove helps brachen fern to grow close to the beginning of the trail. Be mindful of the poison ivy which closely lines the trail in parts. The poison ivy is vibrantly colored orange and red this time of year.
Learn more about the ‘76 Trail on the Visit Spearfish website.