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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.
September 16, 2024
Spearfish Canyon is currently at 45% of total fall foliage color change. The most noticeable areas of change in the deciduous trees are at the beginning of the byway and towards the end. Watch for trees taking on a golden hue on the western side of the Canyon near Split Rock and in the higher elevations at Savoy. Reds are emerging in sumac around Maurice Intake and in the ivy after Victoria.
Today is hotter in temperature than normal for this time of year. The hot and dry summer we’ve had made me wonder what we can expect for weather the rest of September. My thanks to David Stradling, Chief Meteorologist with KOTA Territory News, who shared some weather statistics and fall predictions I’m now sharing with you.
Color Change: 45% (Moderate)
Spearfish Canyon is currently at 45% of total fall foliage color change. The most noticeable areas of change in the deciduous trees are at the beginning of the byway and towards the end. Watch for trees taking on a golden hue on the western side of the Canyon near Split Rock and in the higher elevations at Savoy. Reds are emerging in sumac around Maurice Intake and in the ivy after Victoria.
I’d love some help identifying the dotted moth I captured in my photos near Roughlock Falls. Please email me at SpearfishCanyonReports@gmail.com
Today is hotter in temperature than normal for this time of year. The hot and dry summer we’ve had made me wonder what we can expect for weather the rest of September. My thanks to David Stradling, Chief Meteorologist with KOTA Territory News, who shared some weather statistics and fall predictions I’m now sharing with you.
KOTA Meteorologist David confirmed my suspicions, Summer 2024 has been warmer compared to Summer 2023. Our average temperature in Spearfish in 2024 was 81.8 degrees, while we had a high of 80.8 degrees in 2023.
This year (2024) has been much drier in Spearfish compared to last year (2023) in terms of moisture and snowfall. We received 7.44” more moisture last year (January 1-August 31, 2023) than this year. Here’s the details: Since January 1, 2024 we have received 17.84” of moisture. Comparing January 1 through August 31, 2023 we had 25.28” of moisture.
Snowfall tells the same story. Last year (2023) was 21” snowier than this year! The specifics on that are 57.3” of snowfall in 2024 compared with 78.3” in 2023. Read my September 9th, 2024 report at SpearfishCanyonReports.com for information on how moisture affects the waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon.
At the end of last year’s leaf reporting season, I theorized that cooler, wetter year meant lesser/muter fall colors in the Canyon. If that is true, as we move into the next two weeks of September, we should see bright, bold foliage. Meteorologist David predicts the remainder of September will be warmer and drier than average, which may allow me to test my theory. We’ll see what nature has in store!