Fall Colors

THE fall splendor OF SPEARFISH CANYON

BY MARK WATSON

When the fall colors in Spearfish Canyon reach their peak, you can bet there will be visitors clambering to see the beauty of the deciduous trees.

Rusts and oranges are found in the oaks. Gold aspen and birch leaves quiver in the breeze. The cottonwoods and willows show off their bright yellow. Ruby reds show up near the ground on smatterings of sumac. The dark green backdrops from the pines combine with all of these to make an exquisite palette of colors.

“Spearfish Canyon is our number one natural attraction,” said Mistie Caldwell, the executive director of Visit Spearfish. “It is all year long, but the fall is a totally different experience than in the summer.”

She said people, mainly adult couples and retirees, start calling her office as early as April asking when they should come out to see the colors of Spearfish Canyon in their prime.

“Adult couples plan their vacations after school starts again and before winter,” Caldwell said. “As we get closer to the day, it’s people from the five-state region asking, ‘When’s the peak?’”

Fall colors in Spearfish Canyon reach their peak near the end of September or the first part of October.

Caldwell said. “It’s interesting. Most people who call think the colors change a lot earlier than they do. A lot of people plan their vacations around Labor Day. They get a little concerned when you tell them the last week of September.”

But when September does roll around, the visitor numbers can increase even over summer month totals.

“Linda Ahlers, former general manager of Spearfish Canyon Lodge, always says that ‘Sturgis has their Motorcycle Rally., we have a leaf rally. That’s true. It’s our signature event, the changing of the leaves.” n

To follow the FALL COLOR SATURATION: visitspearfish.com