27 listings
Free Hot Springs in Idaho
No-fee soaks on public land. Pack it in, pack it out, and check access rules before you go.
We list 27 in Idaho, 7 of them near Stanley: the hottest is Baumgartner Hot Springs (up to 111°F).
Atlanta Hot Springs
A natural hot spring near the historic mining town of Atlanta at the head of the Middle Fork Boise River, about 60 miles of mostly dirt Forest Service road from Idaho City. The Forest Service names it, with Powerplant and Chattanooga, among the natural hot springs near its Atlanta Guard Station rental cabin. NOAA lists the source at about 140F.
Barth Hot Springs
A riverside hot spring on the Wild and Scenic Main Salmon River in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, reached only by boat on a multi-day float. The Forest Service calls it the only hot spring on the river and asks boaters not to camp or stop for lunch there. Soap and nudity are not allowed, and the rocks on the short climb up are loose and wet.
Basin Creek Hot Springs
Hot springs near Basin Creek and Basin Creek Campground on Highway 75 east of Stanley; the Stanley-Sawtooth Chamber lists both the campground spring and Basin Creek (Cove/Kem) springs among the area's soakable sites.
Baumgartner Hot Springs
A concrete soaking pool fed by hot spring water inside Baumgartner Campground, on the South Fork Boise River east of Featherville in the Sawtooth National Forest. The Forest Service gives the water as 98-111°F, and the pool is drained nightly. Swimsuits are required, and soap, alcohol, glass and pets are not allowed at the pool.
Boat Box Hot Springs
A single old mining cauldron beside the Salmon River, filled by piped spring water, about three and a half miles from Stanley on Highway 75. It fits three or four people, and a bucket is usually left for adding cold river water. The roadside pull-off holds only two or three cars.
Bonneville Hot Springs
A hot springs soaking pool a quarter mile by trail from the Forest Service's Bonneville Campground at milepost 91.5 on Highway 21, northeast of Lowman. The campground season runs end of May to end of September, after which it is open to dispersed camping until snow. The Warm Springs Guard Station rental cabin also has a trail to the springs, used on skis and snowshoes in winter.
Chattanooga Hot Springs
A natural hot spring near Atlanta, the old mining town at the head of the Middle Fork Boise River, reached by about 60 miles of mostly dirt Forest Service roads from Idaho City. The Forest Service lists it among the natural hot springs near its Atlanta Guard Station rental cabin. No agency source gives its temperature or layout.
Frenchman's Bend Hot Springs
Natural hot spring pools tucked against boulders beside Warm Springs Creek and its gravel road, about 11 miles from Ketchum in the Sawtooth National Forest. Visit Idaho notes the springs are well known and see heavy traffic on weekends and holidays. The source water emerges at about 124°F, far hotter than the creek-side soaking pools.
Goldbug Hot Springs
Hot springs on BLM land east of Elk Bend, 23 miles south of Salmon off US-93, reached on foot from the end of a county road. The first quarter mile of the trail crosses private property on a public easement, where dogs must be leashed. There is no fee.
Horse Creek Hot Spring
A hot spring with dispersed camping in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, near the border of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and Montana's Bitterroot National Forest. It sits at 6,200 feet, about 36 miles of forest roads west and north of North Fork. There is no potable water and there are no picnic tables or fire rings.
Hospital Bar Hot Springs
A riverside hot spring at Hospital Bar camp, river mile 52.1 on the Middle Fork of the Salmon in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The Forest Service lists it as one of six hot springs camps on the float; each permitted group may be assigned only one, and it is not guaranteed. The agency warns that some Middle Fork springs are hot enough to burn and bans soap in hot springs.
Hot Springs Campground Hot Spring
A natural hot springs soaking pool on the South Fork Payette River, across the Banks-Lowman Road from the Forest Service's Hot Springs Campground and down a staircase. The campground east of Garden Valley is open from early May to the end of September and is reserved through Recreation.gov.
Jerry Johnson Hot Springs
A set of undeveloped pools along Warm Springs Creek, reached by crossing the Warm Springs Pack Bridge over the Lochsa River at milepost 152 of US Highway 12. There are three groups of pools: the Waterfall Pools, a set in a meadow and a set above the meadow. The Forest Service limits use to 6am-8pm and bans overnight camping at the springs.
Mormon Bend Hot Springs
A hot spring near the Forest Service's Mormon Bend Campground on the Salmon River east of Stanley, listed by the Stanley-Sawtooth Chamber among the area's soakable springs. The campground has 15 sites and is open April through September.
Pine Flats Hot Springs
Riverside soaking pools below a hot waterfall on a cliff above the South Fork Payette River, reached by a quarter-mile nature trail from the Forest Service's Pine Flats Campground west of Lowman. The campground runs end of May to end of September. In winter the gate is closed and visitors walk the road.
Rocky Canyon Hot Springs
A three-tiered hot spring above the Middle Fork of the Payette River, about 12 miles up South Middle Fork Road from Crouch. Reaching it means wading the river, which Visit Idaho says is only safe in summer at low water. Parking is a small pull-off on the left of the road.
Sacajawea Hot Springs
Primitive hot springs pools on the South Fork Payette River along Grandjean Road, just west of Grandjean and the Sawtooth Lodge. The Stanley-Sawtooth Chamber lists it among the springs west of Stanley on Highway 21.
Sheepeater Hot Springs
A riverside hot spring at Sheepeater camp, river mile 13.0 on the Middle Fork of the Salmon in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The Forest Service lists it as one of six hot springs camps on the float; each permitted group may be assigned only one, and it is not guaranteed. The agency warns that some Middle Fork springs are hot enough to burn and bans soap in hot springs.
Skillern Hot Springs
A backcountry hot spring in the Sawtooth National Forest north of Fairfield, reached on foot by the Big Smoky Trail #072 from Canyon Transfer Camp on Big Smoky Creek. The Forest Service names it among the district's hot springs accessible in summer. NOAA lists the source at about 140F, so test the water before getting in.
Slate Creek Hot Springs
A hot spring up Slate Creek off the Highway 75 corridor east of Sunbeam, toward Clayton. The Stanley-Sawtooth Chamber lists it (also called Hoodoo) among the springs north of Stanley.
Stanley Hot Springs
Backcountry soaking pools in a clearing above the trail, fed by hot water flowing toward Huckleberry Creek. They are about five miles up Boulder Creek Trail 211 from Wilderness Gateway Campground on US Highway 12, past Huckleberry Flat and across Boulder Creek. The regional tourism office recommends late spring, summer or early winter.
Sunbeam Hot Springs
Hot springs that flow into the Salmon River beside Highway 75 north of Stanley, next to a historic bathhouse building dating from 1937. The Stanley-Sawtooth Chamber lists it among the soakable springs north of town.
Sunflower Hot Springs
A riverside hot spring at Sunflower camp, river mile 32.6 on the Middle Fork of the Salmon in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The Forest Service lists it as one of six hot springs camps on the float; each permitted group may be assigned only one, and it is not guaranteed. The agency warns that some Middle Fork springs are hot enough to burn and bans soap in hot springs.
Trail Creek Hot Springs
Creekside pools about 19 miles from Cascade on the Warm Lake road, reached by a short, steep descent from a roadside pullout. Some pools are reinforced with concrete, and pipes let cold creek water in to adjust the temperature. Visit Idaho features it as a winter soak, when the path down is snow-covered.
Vulcan Hot Springs
A geothermal area on Vulcan Creek in the Boise National Forest, reached on Vulcan Hot Springs Trail #072 from the Tyndall / Vulcan Trailhead. The trailhead has a vault toilet and five dispersed campsites but no drinking water. The source springs are near boiling, so soaking is only possible where creek water has cooled them.
Weir Creek Hot Springs
An undeveloped hot spring above Weir Creek near milepost 142 of US Highway 12, with its main pool on a rock slab overlooking the creek. It is about a half-mile uphill walk from the highway. The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests closed the site at night in 2022 after injuries and vandalism, and the regional tourism office now lists it as closed until further notice.
Worswick Hot Springs
A hot spring on the Sawtooth National Forest's Fairfield Ranger District that the Forest Service calls popular and places close to the free Five Points Campground, 17 miles north of Fairfield on FR 094. NOAA lists the source at about 180F, scalding at the vent, so check the temperature of any pool before entering.