Hot Spring Weekend

[melotaco]

Day 1

I decided to go on a weekend hot spring trip. The trip involved going from Portland, OR to Burns, OR. The hot springs I went to is called Crystal Crane hot springs, about 30 miles east of Burns.
The drive was a little sketchy because of the snow and ice on the passes. Other than that it was a great relaxing weekend.

Driving over the passes there was a significant amount of ice.


That is what I saw upon arrival.


I decided to stay in a little cabin becuase. The cabin was nice and warm inside compared to the outside. The cloud you see is from the hot springs.


The water is too hot to let in in the pool directly so they came up with a system to cool the water down.


Day 2
Enjoying the hot springs. As you can see it is not your typical size hot spring.


It snowed quite a bit on day two.


At sunset.


Day 3
Headed back home today. It was pretty cold, my antenna was frozen.
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Great view of the mountains thanks to the clear skies.


If you are ever around Burns I defintiely recommend a stop at the hot springs. The best part about it was I was the only one there.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Awesome!

Hot Stuff!

I've had some really fun times hiking to hot springs in Idaho. Bald Eagles....Moon Rise....Stars so bright! ......all while steaming on a cliff side!

I love back country hot springs that take some work to get to........and give you total privacy......with awesome views!


Thanks for sharing! Now just where is that Hot Springs Smilie......when you need him>?!!!


Maybe we should start an....... Outback Hot Springs Locator Thread.................?

 

[melotaco]

Thanks Scenic WonderRunner. I definitely think a hot spring locator thread should be started..

Also do you have any recommendations for hot springs in western Idaho? The tougher to get to the better.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

The hot springs I was refering to above is just north of Crouch Idaho. If you drove by too fast you would never see it. We had to hike down a cliffside. Then a 100+ yard river crossing, to the north side of the Middle Fork of the Payette River. This hot springs had several levels. One down low by the river (a cooler one). Then three hot springs levels climbing up the cliff. Each one hotter than the other.

That whole area around Crouch....and Garden Valley has lots of them.

Here is a link to a locator that I have used at times.

http://www.soak.net/


I just now did a search and this site popped up.

http://www.idahohotsprings.com/hot_springs/idaho_hot_springs.htm


People can get really creative to make these things hold water.....especially on a cliff.

It would be nice for us to have a Hot Springs Info Thread.....with these kinds of Links and Info all in one place.



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[Scenic WonderRunner]

I just now found this video of the hot springs that I described above. I was last there in 2005. Now it looks like several more pools have been added. It looks Awesome now!

http://www.hotspringsguy.com/2007/09/hot-soaks-with-view-rocky-canyon-hot.html <~Clickit!





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[Ursidae69]

Awesome thread. :costumed-smiley-007

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

I think what happens is............

Each winter.....there are storms. Logs fall....heavy snow.....large flowing river and things change.

There must be a hard core group of Hot Springs Lovers........that head out each spring to repair the damage and add more goodies!

In the video above........I did NOT see all those great pools when I was there in 2005. Although I did sit in the top one's that they claimed were the originals. If you look close.........it almost seems like they used Cement to stack their rock walls to hold in the Hot Spring Water! It never looked so good!

Anyway..........

When the sun goes down and the quiet moon rises over the hot springs...........It's truly a site to behold!
....Just do it!:26_7_2:

 

[melotaco]

Thanks for all the information and links now I just have to decide where to go. I will be on my way once I can get a some time off work, which hopefully will be sometime next month cuase I'm ready to :mixed-smiley-030: .

 

[DBS311]

I miss the snow. I'd leave San Diego in a heartbeat if I could sell my house.

 

[paulj]

We considered stopping at these springs last May, but choose instead to loop around the south side of Steens Mtn, and then continuing west (having passed through Jordan Valley). We had Alvord hot springs to ourselves. Hart Mtn springs were too buggy to enjoy for long. Summer Lake was nice. More developed than Alvord, but apparently more rustic than this one. Crane looks like a good choice for winter use, if you are up for the drive.

paulj

 

[melotaco]

We considered stopping at these springs last May, but choose instead to loop around the south side of Steens Mtn, and then continuing west (having passed through Jordan Valley). We had Alvord hot springs to ourselves. Hart Mtn springs were too buggy to enjoy for long. Summer Lake was nice. More developed than Alvord, but apparently more rustic than this one. Crane looks like a good choice for winter use, if you are up for the drive.

paulj

The Alvord hot spring are also very cool. Crystal Crane for me is the best place to relax and enjoy yourself without having to worry about anything (tents, cold, ect...). It is definitely a drive, however if it wasn't too many people would be in that area.

 

[paulj]

Any experience with Idaho hot springs? I got to browsing the Idaho side of Hells Canyon and noticed a number of hot springs in the area around McCall, some commercial, some public.

paulj

 

[4Rescue]

Hay I've been there! Bold move going out east, were getting hammered with snow as you obviously know. I am so psyched, the rivers are gonna be running big this year.

IMO best hotsprings I've ever been to is outside of Lowman Idaho on the Payette rivver. that entire valey/river network is just teaming with awsome hot springs, I've never been anywhere like it before. Great rafting too BTW...

 

[lqhikers]

hot springs =respect

Having lived in Garden Valley Idaho for 10 +years we have used, cleaned,rebuilt (after storms ,damage by vandals,trashed by party hardy groups,torn out by groups who are offended by nudity (we were all born nude so it should not offend ,if it does be willing to wait or come back another time)Saline valley is a good example of sharing)So with this said if the powers decide to start a hot springs thread PLEASE keep it for members as the more the locations are told the more damage happens!And no glass in springs.Reading back over my post i sound selfish .so be it.Drive slow and enjoy "its the journey"

 

[paulj]

There are web sites devoted to hot springs, for example
http://www.idahohotsprings.com/
covering both private (commercial) and public sites.

If your hidden spot isn't on a list like this, then by all means keep quiet about it. But it is already listed, there is little point in being hush-hush about it. Besides, vandalism is usually done by locals, not visitors from out of state. In many cases, moderate use by responsible parties is the best way to counter abusive use.

paulj