I know I just wrote about some hot spots in Idaho, but that blog post got me looking at other places to go last weekend. I did a little research and found a place that I had previously driven by many, many times. I never knew existed. Slow down, take a look around, you never know what you might see.
I read about a hike as I was searching for hikes near Idaho City (this isn’t near Idaho city, btw) and came across this hike that said there were hot springs and a waterfall. Two of my favorite things, so I was in. My bride was out of town for the weekend being a photographer for a wedding, so I needed to occupy my kids’ time. I know how much they love nature’s hot tubs, so this was an easy sell. We packed up our stuff and headed for the mountains and our hot springs hike.
This beauty of a hike is really just a stroll in the woods along the payette river. The only elevation is coming and going from the campground parking lot down and back to the river banks. You’ll follow this trail through the woods until you reach the first of many hot springs pools. The first one you reach is probably the most perfect temperature of all the pools. There are some pools further up the hill, which were apparently way too hot for the kids. I liked the temperature of them personally. There is a number of pools to dip you bones into. Some of these pools are rather secluded, but require a little toughness getting to them. I didn’t venture letting my younger kids try getting to the secluded springs. This would require a rather difficult climb down a smallish cliff or taking a walk in the swift moving river for about 30 yards.
There was one pool that my kids all wanted to sit in that was being fed by a waterfall. Yes, you heard that right. A hot springs waterfall! That’s not the only waterfall feeding a pool either. The three pools around the bend in the river are fed by the hot springs waterfall on that side of the cliff.These were the cleanest, clearest springs we have been to in the wild. I can’t begin to explain just how cool this place is. This being fall, we got to experience the changing of leaves along the hike and river banks. All the golds and reds that were bursting with color during the last days of their life cycle. These hot springs are definitely a place that needs to be seen and experienced firsthand.
Happy hiking and soaking your bones.
Gary
Outdoor DadVentures 