Temperatures vary in this area and the thermometer can hit minus 30 (F) in the winter as easily as 100 degrees (F) in summer months. Landslides can occur within the Canyon in Spring and early Summer, due to winter freezing and thawing which loosens and fractures rock.

Looking down the Canyon (toward Spearfish), glance to the Canyon rim – at the skyline – and you can see effects of one such slide. Areas such as this – and there are many in the Canyon – can be easily identified by the lighter colored rock and absence of vegetation.

Also at this Interpretive Stop – looking directly across the road – the Deadwood formation (layer) is very dominant and Northern Great Plains vegetation is prominent with such shrubs as Buckbrush and Oak brush.

Towering Ponderosa Pine, from Rocky Mountain Forest regions, become common at this stop, continue throughout the Canyon , and are a dominant feature of the Hills. Without this influence, the area would probably not be called the Black Hills. From afar, the huge amount of Ponderosa Pine, thought dark green in color, appears almost black. The Indians called the Black Hills – Paha Sapa – meaning black hills.

Ponderosa Pine is the most common vegetation in the Hills and provides Spearfish Canyon a year-round canopy of green. If, throughout the Canyon, it appears a Ponderosa Pine is growing from solid rock, you are not being deceived – it can do exactly that. A crack in a rock, a bit of washed-down soil and water – when it rains – and a Ponderosa Pine will make a home. Ponderosa Pine is tolerant of both hot and dry growing conditions, and thrives in a variety of soils.

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