Discoveries at Englewood Springs

Sep 15, 2022

By Christian Begeman

South Dakota is a special place, partly because of its sheer variety. Everyone has heard or shared a joke about the constant change of weather, but I wonder how often people stop to think about the ecological variety that exists within our borders? Last year, I was tasked with finding and photographing a “green orchid” in the Coteau des Prairies of northeastern South Dakota. Before that request, I was unaware that orchids even grew in our region. I was quite wrong, and thankfully so. Depending on who is counting, there are up to two dozen different orchid species found in South Dakota. What does knowledge like this do to a photographer who loves a macro lens and beautifully colored wildflowers? It starts a self-motivated project that if not careful, borders on obsession.

While researching local orchids, I “discovered” Englewood Springs Botanical Area near Lead. It’s been a place of botanical interest since the late 1960s, but I first read about this little corner of the Black Hills in a 2011 National Forest Management Strategy document found online. I had learned about the fairy slipper orchid from David J. Ode’s Dakota Flora: A Seasonal Sampler, and while using the internet to learn where these amazing plants can be found, I noticed the above-mentioned report and learned the fairy slipper had been documented at Englewood Springs along with at least a dozen other orchids. That was all it took to ensure I visited with camera in hand.

My first trip there was in late June of 2021. I battled a downed white spruce, steep hillsides and shortness of breath being the flatlander that I am. I was also unable to find a fairy slipper. Most likely I was too late in the season, but I did see three “new to me” orchids as well as a variety of other amazing flowers I had never photographed before. Along the way, I suffered a torn pair of jeans thanks to an unseen branch on a downed log. Even so, the excursion was well worth it.

This spring, I was determined to go earlier to find the elusive fairy slipper. However, spring was late this time around and my first trip, over Memorial Day weekend, found Englewood Springs just waking up from winter and not many new buds could be seen. Even so, new to me flowers included bearberry blooms and drops of gold.

Undaunted, I came back a mere two weeks later. Again, I was stymied in the fairy slipper search, but I did photograph my first alpine milkvetch, as well as the uniquely diminutive wister coralroot orchid. My searching was cut short on that trip after a log unexpectedly gave way, resulting in an awkward lurch into thick mud and one of the worst hamstring pulls I’ve ever experienced. Chalk another one up to Englewood Springs.

I was back a few weeks later, only to discover that I was again too late to find a fairy slipper, but just in time to find a rare broad-lipped twayblade orchid. I also saw and photographed an orchid not on the Englewood Springs list, a frog orchid. So, I’ll take that as a win and will visit again next spring in search of that yet unseen, but very well named, fairly slipper orchid.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he's not working at Midco he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.