Spearfish Canyon Through Time

Spearfish Canyon Through Time. Historic and Scenic Byway. , Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway , The Spearfish Canyon State and Forest Scenic Byway runs for 22 miles through the Canyon., The Canyon was chosen as a Scenic Byway because it embodies four of the six inherent qualities necessary for a Byway distinction: scenery, history, nature, and recreation., "As different as could be from the Bad Lands or Black Hills or anything I had actually seen, a stately exposition of what decorated walls on enormous scale can do and be... This continues for miles and miles without paling or growing in the least stale." , -Excerpts from a letter by world renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, September 28, 1935, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 1995., Long Valley Picnic Area , Picnic areas were built throughout Spearfish Canyon by the Homestake Mining Company in the early 1900s. They were built as tourist attractions for visitors to enjoy areas along Spearfish Creek., People in the Canyon , Early Native American groups traveled to Spearfish Canyon for hunting, gathering native plants, and fishing in the waters of Spearfish Creek. Many people still visited the Canyon for these purposes when the Canyon was opened up for modern day uses beginning with railroads and then automobiles., Beginning with early Native American groups, miners and early pioneers, and now local residents and Forest visitors, people have come to the Canyon to seek the same solitude and abundant natural resources today as they have in the past., Natural Resources , The natural resources of Spearfish Creek support a special variety of plant and animal habitat in the Canyon., Fishing has been a popular past time in Spearfish Canyon for centuries.