United States Canyon
Spearfish Canyon
238 m of rock, cut by the Spearfish Creek.
KLindblom · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
238 metres, to scale.
A slice through Spearfish Canyon where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
238m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
14.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
18°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,089m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 32 °C on the floor, against 30 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in September. The rim freezes at night from November to March. The wettest months are from April to July.
- 2°0°Jan
- 3°0°Feb
- 9°7°Mar
- 14°12°Apr
- 20°18°May
- 27°25°Jun
- 32°30°Jul
- 30°28°Aug
- 24°22°Sep
- 14°12°Oct
- 8°6°Nov
- 2°0°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Deep gorge in northern Black Hills, South Dakota
Spearfish Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Spearfish Creek. The relief model measures 238 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 344 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 14 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Spearfishnearest town · 1.7 km in a straight line
- Parking 170 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 5.1 km from the floor
- Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 79 km in a straight lineCar hire at RAP airport (Rapid City)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In May and in Septemberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The river
The Spearfish Creek runs highest from May to June.
The Spearfish Creek carries about 0.87 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to June. It is lowest from October to February.
- 0.3 m³/sJan
- 0.6 m³/sFeb
- 1.2 m³/sMar
- 2.2 m³/sApr
- 3.6 m³/sMay
- 3.1 m³/sJun
- 1.9 m³/sJul
- 1.2 m³/sAug
- 1.0 m³/sSep
- 0.7 m³/sOct
- 0.3 m³/sNov
- 0.1 m³/sDec
From about 0.13 m³/s in the lowest month to 3.6 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 444 km².
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 2viewpoints within 5 km
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmTinton Trail #55
- 10footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 121car parks within 3 km
- 2information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 5campsites within 8 kmMountain View Campground, Chris' Campground, Spearfish City Campground and 2 more
- 15hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmSpearfish Creek Inn, Holiday Inn, Hampton and 12 more
- 26restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Spearfish1.7 km in a straight line
- North Spearfish4.7 km in a straight line
- Deadwood15 km in a straight line
- Lead16 km in a straight line
- Belle Fourche22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Spearfish Canyon.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Peakyas11 mountains within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 2 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 27 | 32 | 30 | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 |
| Afternoon · rim | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 25 | 30 | 28 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 0 |
| Night · rim | -10 | -10 | -6 | -2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 0 | -5 | -9 |
| Rain (mm) | 13 | 19 | 28 | 53 | 90 | 73 | 58 | 47 | 39 | 38 | 14 | 15 |
| Rainy days | 5 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.3 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 10.4 | 11.3 | 10.1 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 5.4 | 4.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 17 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 16 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | 0 | -10 | 13 | 5.3 |
| Feb | 3 | 0 | -10 | 19 | 6.6 |
| Mar | 9 | 7 | -6 | 28 | 7.0 |
| Apr | 14 | 12 | -2 | 53 | 7.5 |
| May | 20 | 18 | 4 | 90 | 8.5 |
| Jun | 27 | 25 | 10 | 73 | 10.4 |
| Jul | 32 | 30 | 14 | 58 | 11.3 |
| Aug | 30 | 28 | 13 | 47 | 10.1 |
| Sep | 24 | 22 | 7 | 39 | 8.5 |
| Oct | 14 | 12 | 0 | 38 | 6.4 |
| Nov | 8 | 6 | -5 | 14 | 5.4 |
| Dec | 2 | 0 | -9 | 15 | 4.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,089 m) and the rim (1,433 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 115% | 182% | 67% | 67% | 76% | 76% | 108% | 58% | 67% | 120% | 27% | 71% |
| 2021 | 69% | 99% | 66% | 88% | 85% | 58% | 130% | 68% | 57% | 208% | 52% | 114% |
| 2022 | 60% | 83% | 44% | 152% | 82% | 111% | 72% | 82% | 69% | 45% | 92% | 159% |
| 2023 | 158% | 105% | 89% | 40% | 143% | 192% | 86% | 147% | 164% | 124% | 46% | 88% |
| 2024 | 43% | 69% | 77% | 167% | 97% | 37% | 56% | 114% | 44% | 73% | 79% | 61% |
| 2025 | 112% | 56% | 106% | 139% | 96% | 99% | 188% | 123% | 93% | 176% | 104% | 118% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Spearfish Canyon
United States
- 238 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 18°Steepest wall
Wind River Canyon
United States · 362 km
- 389 mDepth
- 3.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 32°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q7574379) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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