Nature's Hot Tub

[Little Kitty]

I have only seen nature's hot tub, aka hot springs, in movies. Are there any hot springs in the US, that you can take a dip in? It would be nice to take a camping trip, and have some hot springs nearby!

[ppine]

Kitty,

You are on the right track. There are some good guide books to get you started. Talk with Grandpa, he is the king of hot springs. I really like the undeveloped ones.

My all time best experience was in Big Smoky Valley on the east side of the Toiyabe Range, NV. I was doing some mining consulting work with a friend and we camped at a little known hot springs near the job site. Over the years someone had brought in fine gravel for the bottom of the spring, and built a small wooden deck next to it. We slept on the deck, and in the cold mornings rolled out into the spring. We had a cook stove on the deck we could reach from the water. The coffee and breakfast were going in no time. Our "commute" to the job site was 30 miles closer than town, and we pocketed the per diem money. Just another day at work.

One bit of advice however. Be careful around remote hot springs. The temperature can change a lot with the seasons, and especially year to year. Don't let your Lab loose around them. People and dogs die in hot springs fairly often. Always test the temp first, and be careful. A temp above about 106 degrees F can create problems for people with bad hears, or those that have been drinking or using drugs.

Another time I was working in southern Nevada near the Nellis Test Range. After two weeks in the field, my associate and I saved the last day for some fun. We went to Ash Springs out in the middle of the arid desert. We met 2 German girls on vacation who had some great weed. After soaking for an hour and a half, a Stealth bomber appeared between the low hills to the north. They were not supposed to exist, but were flying out of the old air strip in Tonopah. Another day at work.

[Grandpa]

Yes Yes Yes, If you are in the northwest there are hundreds of them. Some are just rock pools in the river where hot and cold can be blended, while others are much more exotic. There is a spot high on the East fork of the Salmon river in the Idaho White Clouds range where someone/someones have hauled in bathtubs and plumbed them in with pvc pipe so you can regulate the hot and cold. On the middle fork of the Payette, someone has hauled in an old hot tub, and done the same with it. My favorite is on the Salmon river just below Stanley, Id. Someone has taken an old buoy or shipping mine, which is a round metal ball about 6 ft in diameter. They cut off the top third and welded it on the bottom for a base. Installed a drain valve and then put hardwood seats around the edge. The nearby hot springs has been plumbed with steel pipe with a flex hose on the end so you can just swing the 150 degree hot water over the tub and get the just right blend of temp you want. Wonderful after a week of hiking the Sawtooths.


This one is called Morning Falls aka Scout Pond and is in Yellowstone near Union Falls. The hot springs enters above the falls and warms the whole stream to a nice 70 degrees.

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This one is in Utah, on a tributary of Diamond Creek call Fifth Water Creek. The falls water is cold and the hot is coming from a spring at the base making the pool about 80 degrees.

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Just below this falls is another pool that is warmed by another spring to about 90 degrees and is much deeper.

[Grandpa]

This is real hot potting. Salmon River, central Idaho

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[bsmit212]

If you are in the southeast, Hot Springs, NC has a big organized area in the middle of town with several tubs, but they all have privacy fences bulit around them which is great. Unfoutunally, dont know of any backcounty ones.

[Grandpa]

Barney Hotsprings, near the headwaters of the Little Lost River, sandwiched between the Lost River range and the Lemhi Range in Central Idaho. The hot springs bubbles up in the center of this pond. Unfortunately, there is not enough hot water to raise the whole pond to a comfortable heat level so in the ancient of days, the cowboys and ranchers in the area hauled in the logs and built a containment around the springs which helped elevate the heat to a more comfortable level. The walls were much higher then which also gave their lady folk a little more privacy for their weekly bath.

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[Bumpkin]

My husband was just talking about taking a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas this year. I've never been there, but it's within driving distance and I've always wanted to go.

[ejdixon]

Definitely going to try out the one in Utah once things start to get warmer. It's going to be a welcome dip after all the chilly evenings.

[TroyS]

Grandpa, is there a fee to use them or can you just literally jump in and go swimming?

[Grandpa]

Pay? that takes all the fun out of it. Everything I posted is as free as the wind. But swim trunks may be necessary at some of them.

Where the metal ball is, there used to be a wood vat used the same way. As we were leaving, a guy pulled up on a bike and started to strip to the nothings. There were several families in the area with young kids so this was NOT cool. As he pulled his pants down, my 11 year old granddaughter was walking past and said to him,"no point in advertising if you don't have a marketable product". He froze, then pulled up his pants and got on his bike and left.

You do need to know the swim suit protocol for the springs you visit.