SD-Hell+Canyon


 * =Birding in South Dakota=

Custer County
=Hell Canyon= US Route 16, just west of Jewel Cave Hell Canyon web site Hell Canyon map

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Hell Canyon
Coordinates: 43.7383599, -103.8451767 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Tips on Birding Hell Canyon
Hell Canyon, accessed via a trail head at the western edge of Jewel Cave National Monument, is about 16 miles west of Custer. Jewel Cave National Monument itself is pine forest and is generally unremarkable for birding, although the characteristic species of the pine forests in the Black Hills may be found here. The cave is interesting and beautiful, and the Visitor’s Center has a small bookstore with books about natural history of the area. One spot at Jewel Cave National Monument worth a quick stop (or a picnic lunch) is the picnic area at the western edge of the monument, just before you drop down the hill to the Hell Canyon trail head parking area. This spot has some nice living ponderosa pine interspersed within a burned area from the huge Jasper fire in 2000. The picnic area is a fairly reliable spot for Cassin’s Finch, which can be tough to find in the Black Hills. Lewis’s Woodpecker is also fairly regular here. Hell Canyon itself is a beautiful spot, certainly not living up to its moniker! It is lined by riparian vegetation along the canyon bottom along a small stream. There are also numerous exposed cliff faces looming over the canyon and adding to the scenic beauty of the canyon. The Jasper fire burned much of the pine forest around Hell Canyon, including the initial portion of the Hell Canyon Trail, but much of the deciduous forest in the canyon bottom escaped the fire, although the stream, which usually provided at least some running water, is now sometimes dry. The Hell Canyon Trail is a 5.5-mile loop that includes both canyon rim and bottom. Stick to the canyon bottom for the best birding, as the forest along the rim burned during the Jasper fire. A hike up this canyon is likely to produce birds of both pine forest and riparian habitats of the Black Hills, as well as species such as Canyon Wren and White-throated Swift that are associated with exposed cliff faces. Regular nesting species include Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks, Red-naped Sapsucker, Western Wood-Pewee, Dusky and Cordilleran flycatchers, Plumbeous, Warbling, and Red-eyed vireos, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Violet-green Swallow, Townsend’s Solitaire, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Audubon’s and MacGillivray’s warblers, Western Tanager, White-winged Junco, and Red Crossbill. Clark’s Nutcracker, a difficult species in South Dakota, also occurs along the canyon with some regularity and Pygmy Nuthatches are also regular visitors. Hell Canyon can also be a good area for migrants. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, which were formerly only a casual migrant in the Black Hills, are now regular summer residents. This canyon is an excellent spot to look for vagrants during migration, and such rarities as Hammond’s Flycatcher, Carolina Wren, and Blue-winged and Townsend’s warblers have been observed here. Watch out for Wood Ticks, which can be abundant in late spring-early summer. The ticks and the locally abundant poison ivy represent the only features of Hell Canyon that I know of worthy of its name. From David L. Swanson, Dept. of Biology, University of South Dakota



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