A tourist visits Spearfish Falls on Thursday, September 13. With the drought this past summer, the fall colors are peaking earlier this year than just about any year in the past.

Around our office there has been a lot of talk about fall which I’m learning is a favorite season for many. Especially after the hot, windy summer we experienced like most of the country, the cooler days that peak in the 70′s and the even cooler nights are a welcome relief.

Also like most of the country, we’re now seeing the wonderful colors of fall peaking earlier. Jerry Boyer of the Spearfish Canyon Foundation has tracked the progress of the fall color spectrum in the Canyon since 1994 and this year, the process called senescence started at the end of August. Boyer says that peak will be one of the earliest he’s seen; Sept. 23 stands as the earliest date he has recorded 100% peak at over the years.

I had the chance to get out last Thursday when colors were said to be around 50-55% and grab a few shots to share. What struck me most when I headed into the mouth of the Canyon just before 8 a.m was the absolute lack of traffic that morning. It felt like I had the road and turnouts to myself. It wasn’t till I got up to Roughlock Falls, then later Spearfish Falls, that I ran into some other fall peepers by which I mean I literally came across maybe eight groups between both stops. For most of the morning it was just me, myself and my camera and it was hard wrapping it up with the nagging pull of getting back to the office finally winning out.

For those looking to add a little more color in their life, this weekend through next will be a great time to for a drive through the Canyon. Boyer predicts this year that the colors in Spearfish Canyon will peak somewhere around Sept. 25 – 27.