Ricks Spring facts for kids
Ricks Spring is a special kind of natural spring found in Logan Canyon, Utah. It's a "karst spring," which means water flows out from an underground cave system. This cool spot is located in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in northeast Utah.
Unlike some springs that get water from deep underground, Ricks Spring actually gets most of its water from the nearby Logan River. It's the most famous of several springs in a hidden network of underground water passages in the area.
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Exploring the Past: Ricks Spring's History
A pioneer named Thomas E. Ricks moved to the nearby Cache Valley in 1859. Logan Canyon was full of valuable resources like timber for the new settlements. Thomas Ricks was one of the first people to explore and write about the canyon.
Around 1899, Ricks and others started building a road. Their goal was to reach Bear Lake Valley. The section of the road leading to Ricks Spring was the first part they finished before winter arrived.
Within about ten years, Ricks Spring became a very popular place. People loved to go there for camping trips and even car rides. Today, this road is part of the beautiful Logan Canyon Scenic Byway. It's also part of US Route 89.
The Water's Journey: How Ricks Spring Works
For a long time, people thought the water at Ricks Spring came from a very deep, pure source. Visitors would often drink the water or take jugs of it home. However, many people became sick with giardia, a type of parasite. This showed that the water was not as pure as they thought. It meant the water was connected to surface sources, not a deep, protected underground supply.
In the 1950s, scientists who study water (called hydrogeologists) noticed something interesting. They saw a pattern between how much water flowed in the Logan River and how much flowed from Ricks Spring. They thought the two might be connected.
Uncovering the Connection: Dye Tracing
A big clue came in 1972. A very cold winter froze parts of the Logan River, causing water to back up upstream. When this happened, Ricks Spring started flowing much earlier than usual. When the river level dropped again, the spring's flow also went down. This strongly suggested a link between the river and the spring.
Later that summer, scientists used a special method called dye tracing. They put a harmless dye into the Logan River. After a while, they found the same dye appearing in Ricks Spring! This experiment confirmed that the Logan River was indeed a source of water for the spring.
More Water Sources for the Spring
Further dye tracing experiments revealed even more about Ricks Spring's water. The Logan River isn't the only source. Several smaller streams, some as far as five miles away and much higher up in the mountains, also feed into the underground network that supplies Ricks Spring. Even water from Tony Grove Lake contributes to the spring.
Ricks Spring is the most famous, but there are other springs in Logan Canyon. These include Dewitt Spring, Wood Camp Hollow Spring, Logan Cave Spring, and Benchmark Spring. Many of these springs share water sources with each other. Dewitt Spring provides water for the city of Logan. The other springs, including Ricks Spring, help to refill the Logan River.
The Earth's Story: Geology of the Spring
The rocks around Ricks Spring are made of sedimentary layers. These are rocks formed over millions of years from layers of sand, mud, and other materials. Over time, pressure and earthquakes have caused these rock layers to bend and crack. This created weak spots in the rock.
Water flowing through these cracks slowly wore away the limestone rock. This created underground paths and caves. These paths allow water from the Logan River and other high-elevation streams to flow through the ground and eventually emerge at Ricks Spring.
Exploring the Caves
There are two caves at Ricks Spring. One cave is above the water and goes about 25 feet into the rock. The second cave is a huge network of passages, some wet and some dry. You can only reach this cave by cave diving (diving underwater into caves). As of 2009, explorers had mapped about 2,200 feet of this underwater cave system.
