The Periodic Spring There are three periodic springs in the world (Dhor Barahi spring, southeast of Pokhara, western Nepal; near Leuk in the Alps; and Wyoming, USA). The only one in North America is just five miles up Swift Creek Canyon from the Star Valley town of Afton, Wyoming. It’s an easy walk from the end of the road to where the spring runs into Swift Creek. Then you can climb a steep trail and scramble over snow (in July) and boulders to the spring itself.

Here’s where the spring runs into Swift Creek. In the fall and winter, the stream nearly stops every ten to twenty minutes.

This is a closer view of the trail. In mid-summer, you must climb to the top to see the change in water flow.

At the mouth of the spring, on a big rock in the middle of the pool, you might see the Little Mermaid.

Here are Michael, Sarah, and Carol at the top of the trail.

The water flows from the base of a vertical cliff. It ebbs and flows about every ten minutes.	Just five minutes later the flow has increased noticeably.
What we see here is actually the overflow from the intake to Afton’s water supply system. The spring has been Afton’s primary drinking water source since 1958.

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