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Self-Guided Tour   

27.5


In addition to Savoy there other old mining and railroad town sites in Spearfish Canyon.

One of these is Elmore and, though the community of privately-owned residences can still be seen, it is a remnant of what the vibrant lumber camp and trading station on the rail line was in the first part of this century.

The Canyon's contribution to mining was timber, water and transportation.

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Elmore, between Cheyenne Crossing and Savoy, can still be seen today but doesn't reflect the active lumber camp and trading station it once was.

At this stop a hundred years ago, common sounds would have been the pounding of hooves and the creaks of straining pieces of leather against wood signaling the approach of the Deadwood/ Cheyenne stagecoach.

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White Spruce draped in "old man's beard" marks Northern Forest plant life in the upper Canyon.

Cheyenne Crossing (originally Spearfish Crossing) was so named because it was the point where the old Cheyenne Trail crossed Spearfish Creek. This was the Cheyenne, Wyoming to Deadwood stage route, an important commercial route during the gold rush days.

Northern Forest vegetation is the least common in the Canyon and is dominated by White Spruce; with branches frequently laced with silvery green lichen called "old man's beard". Plant life is a variety of mosses, lichens, grasses and broad-leafed flowering plants.

 

In more open and grassy areas between Savoy and Cheyenne Crossing is a broad variety of bird life including, for the very lucky guest, an occasional Golden or Bald Eagle.

The canyon supports a cross-section of four-footed animal life. White-tail and Mule deer can be found throughout the drive. Porcupines, Raccoons, Squirrels, and Chipmunks might be spotted as well as a Bobcat or a Yellow-Bellied Marmot.

 

 

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Canyon wildlife comes in all shapes and sizes -- you never know what you are going to see,

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