RoadTrip America

Routes, Planning, & Inspiration for Your North American Road Trip

RVing with Alice and Jaimie

Road Trips to Hot Springs, by Jaimie Hall

Willow Creek
Lila Thode
White Horse Ranch (also known as Willow Creek), Oregon

Willow Creek
Lila Thode
Another soaking pond at White Horse Ranch

Alvord Springs
Roger Thode
Alvord Springs in southeast Oregon

Spencer Hot Springs
Lila Thode
Soaking tub at Spencer Hot Springs, Nevada

Spencer Hot Springs
Lila Thode
Hot pool at Spencer Hot Springs

Spencer Hot Springs
Lila Thode
Another inviting tub at Spencer Hot Springs
HOT SPRINGS RECOMMENDATIONS

I polled RV friends for their favorite hot springs. Here are their suggestions, with links to Web pages if available.

Key: C=commercial; NC- noncommercial

Betty Prange goes regularly to springs along Hwy 395 and particularly likes Travertine and Hot Creek (NC), and Essence of Tranquility in Safford, Arizona (C)

Dexter Yard and Priscilla Scott both recommend Liard Hot Springs on the Alaska Highway in British Columbia (NC, fee).

Marilyn Blintz recommends Ouray Hot Springs in Colorado, run by the town of Ouray (C).

Brooks Rimes recommends Glenwood Springs, Colorado (C).

Lila Thode recommends Tecopa, California (C); White Horse Ranch (also known as Willow springs), and Alvord Hot Springs in southeast Oregon; and Bog Hot, Spencer, Potts and Alkali hot springs in Nevada (all NC).

Megan Edwards recommends the natural pools in the forest behind Fairmont Hot Springs in Fairmont, British Columbia (NC); the four pools at Sam's Family Spa in Desert Hot Springs, California (C); and the private co-ed pools at Delight's Hot Springs in Tecopa, California (C). Her favorite one in Colorado is Strawberry Park near Steamboat Springs on the banks of Strawberry Creek (C).

Pat Kyne recommends several. Umpqua Hot Springs is in Oregon's Umpqua National Forest, northwest of Crater Lake (hike in, NC). Kirkham Hot Springs, four miles east of Lowman, Idaho, on ID 21, is a nice primitive spring with an adjoining National Forest Campground (NC). Hot Well Dunes is a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) recreation area in eastern Arizona, southeast of Safford (NC but there may be a fee and access on washboard dirt road). Thermopolis, Wyoming is in Hot Springs State Park (NC, free)

Mark Sedenquist recommends the natural pool called "Little Eden" found ¼-mile up the hill from Mono Hot Springs, California (NC) and "the barn" at Summer Lake Hot Springs in the "Oregon Outback" (C)

Phyllis Frey recommends Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona, California, with a variety of pools and spa treatments, including a clay treatment, which leaves your skin feeling smooth and soft. (C)

For a hot mud bath, visit Calistoga, California, which boasts a number of spas. (C)

DeAnna White and Al Stovall have always enjoyed Austin Hot Springs, right off The Loneliest Highway in the World in Nevada; Baker Hot Springs northeast of Mt. Vernon, Washington in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and Mile-16 Hot Spring in the South Fork Salmon River Canyon, Idaho. (All NC)




MORE HOT SPRINGS RESOURCES

Find description and directions to noncommercial hot springs, plus some commercial ones in these books:

Hot Springs & Hot Pools of the Southwest Hot Springs and Hot Pools of the Southwest by Marjorie Gersh-Young
Hot Springs & Hot Pools of the Northwest Hot Springs & Hot Pools of the Northwest by Marjorie Gersh-Young
Hiking Hot Springs in the Pacific Southwest Hiking Hot Springs in the Pacific Northwest, 4th (Regional Hiking Series) by Evie Litton

Jaimie Hall
3/5/06
(Links updated November 22, 2022, RTA)

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