The ultraviolet imager (UVI) of the Polar spacecraft and an all‐sky camera at Longyearbyen contemporaneously detected an auroral vortex structure (so‐called “auroral spiral”) on 10 January 1997. From space, the auroral spiral was observed as a “small spot” (one of an azimuthally aligned chain of similar spots) in the poleward region of the main auroral oval from 18 to 24 hr magnetic local time. These auroral spots were formed while the substorm‐associated auroral bulge was subsiding and several poleward‐elongated auroral streak‐like structures appeared during the late substorm recovery phase. During the spiral interval, the geomagnetically north‐south and east‐west components of the geomagnetic field, which were observed at several ground magnetic stations around Svalbard island, showed significant negative and positive bays caused by the field‐aligned currents related with the aurora spiral appearance. The negative bays were reflected in the variations of local geomagnetic activity index (SML) which was provided from the SuperMAG magnetometer network at high latitudes. To pursue the spiral source region in the magnetotail, we trace each UVI image along field lines to the magnetic equatorial plane of the nightside magnetosphere using an empirical magnetic field model. Interestingly, the magnetotail region corresponding to the auroral spiral covered a broad region from Xgsm ∼ −40 to −70 RE at Ygsm ∼ 8 to 12 RE. The appearance of this auroral spiral suggests that extensive areas of the magnetotail (but local regions in the ionosphere) remain active even when the substorm almost ceases, and geomagnetic conditions are almost stable. Plain Language Summary Auroras that locally exhibit a vortex structure are referred to as auroral spirals. The fundamental features of auroral spirals, such as their generation process and source region in the magnetotail, are poorly understood. Based on the images obtained from the Polar ultraviolet imager (UVI) instrument and an all‐sky camera at Longyearbyen, we examined the morphological changes before and during the lifetime of an auroral spiral, which occurred during a comparatively quiet‐time of magnetotail recovery following a main substorm phase on 10 January 1997. The auroral spiral was formed after substorm‐associated auroral features subsided and the disappearance of several poleward‐elongated auroral streak‐like structures. During the spiral, the geomagnetic fields observed around Svalbard island and the geomagnetic activity index derived from the high‐latitude magnetometers showed significant negative/positive variations related with the aurora spiral appearance. According to the field‐aligned auroral spiral UVI image projections onto the nightside magnetic equatorial plane using an empirical geomagnetic field model, the source region of the auroral spiral spanned a broad region over 30 RE in the magnetotail direction with a dawn‐dusk width of ∼4 RE. These results suggest that extensive areas of the magnetotail are active enough to cause auroral spirals even during the late substorm recovery phase. Key Points Auroral spiral was formed while the substorm‐associated auroral bulge was subsiding and poleward‐grown auroral streak structures appeared The source region of the auroral spiral in the magnetotail is widely distributed over 30 RE, from Xgsm ∼ −40 to −70 RE Extensive areas of the magnetotail are sufficiently active to cause auroral spirals even during the late substorm recovery phase