Lamoille Canyon beaver dam at Changing Canyon Trail

Beaver dam in Lamoille Canyon 

Beavers (genus: Castor) are large, semiaquatic rodents. They build dams by using tree branches, vegetation, rocks and mud. To source suitable building material, they even chew down trees. A beaver dam restricts water flow, resulting in the formation of a pond. Recognizing their activities in constructing wetland habitats effecting many other organisms in a local ecosystem, beavers are considered a key species.  

An impressive beaver building site is located in Lamoille Canyon in Nevada's Ruby Mountains. You can easily walk to this site on the Changing Canyon Trail—a nature loop trail next to Lamoille Canyon Road (NF-660).  A Nature Trail Guide available at the trailhead highlights the significance of beaver dams & ponds in non-anthropogenic water management:

Beavers dams keep more water on the land and mitigate the effects of droughts in dry environments. Beaver ponds often provide some of the las standing water in periods of summer drought and some of the only unfrozen water in midwinter.

During the warm months yellow monkeyflower grows on the bank of this pond. Take a walk in the adjacent meadow and you will find many kinds of tiny flowering plants growing amongst the grasses.

Downcanyon view from the beaver pond at Changing Canyon Trail

The trail map indicates the site of the spring. The beavers built dams to reduce the flow of water from this spring rather than trying to build a dam across Lamoille Creek. Past the dam, the water flows into Lamoille Creek—the main creek of the canyon with typically higher flow of water during spring and a much higher chance to blow out built dams..     

Changing Canyon Trail Map

Map with Changing Canyon Trail and beaver dam site

This map describes the beaver beaver dam site as “abandoned beaver dam and lodge”. I am not sure about the current site status. Has the beaver community left for good or is their a cycle of  abandoning and reactivating?