Spearfish Canyon

The canyon runs about thirty kilometres with limestone and sandstone walls rising to around three hundred metres, cut by Spearfish Creek, and the road through it is a designated scenic byway that stays paved and open year round. Bridal Veil Falls drops about twenty metres directly beside the road. Roughlock Falls and Spearfish Falls are short walks off it. The canyon is unusual in the Black Hills for holding spruce, pine, aspen and birch together - the cool moist microclimate supports species that do not mix elsewhere in the region, and the autumn colour from the aspen and birch is the reason late September is the busy period. The final scene of Dances with Wolves was filmed in the canyon.

The landscape

• Walls up to three hundred metres - limestone over sandstone.
• Bridal Veil Falls - about twenty metres, right beside the road.
• Mixed spruce, pine, aspen and birch - unusual for the Black Hills.
• A Dances with Wolves location - the film's closing scene.

When to go

May to October; colour peaks in late September. Half a day.

What to expect

The road is the attraction and it is narrow with slow traffic in season. Colour weekends fill the pull-offs. Falls are strongest in spring. Winter driving is possible but ice forms in the shaded canyon.

Nearby

Deadwood is south-east; Spearfish is at the north end.

Key facts