Instead of flying right to Boise to check out the hot spring about a half hour away, we decided to fly to Salt Lake City and do a few hot springs on the way. Sometimes its fun to take a road trip and see the mountains up close instead of from an airplane window. Driving north out of Salt Lake City, our first spring was just south of the Idaho border. It was Belmont hot spring and R.V. park.
Belmont has gone through some change of ownership and renovations. It used to be called Udy hot springs. There is a R.V. park up on the hill above the springs, which is where we had to go to check in when we called a number posted at the closed office. The springs consist of 2 outdoor Hot springs ponds, which have beautiful turquoise blue water. The larger pond is about 97 degrees and the smaller one is 104. The smaller one is about 30 feet deep and 370 feet wide, and is a certified spot for scuba diving, with a small sunken boat to explore. We started in the larger pond, which I was told was over 100 feet deep and gets hotter the deeper you go. It looks like from satellite images that there used to be a cement inground pool next to the bathrooms, but there was only a clearing of freshly plowed dirt there now. Belmont’s daily soaking fee is $20 On this Wednesday afternoon we were the only ones soaking in either pool, it was very peaceful, with only a tame duck at the shore keeping an eye on us.
Find out more at https://belmonthotsprings.com/
We then drove up into Idaho for the rest of our trip. About an hour north of Belmont, is Lava Hot springs. This is the name of the town as well. Beside the Hot springs, there are several things there also named Lava Hot Springs, such as hotels, shops, and there is even tubing in the nearby Portneuf River. The city pool, which is what you see when you first arrive at town, with a large Lava Hot springs sign, with indoor and outdoor pools with water slides, but this is city water not the hot springs. Once you drive to the other side of town you arrive at the real hot springs. Lava Hot Springs has 5 outdoor pools with gravel bottoms, several with shade awnings to keep you from boiling in the sun.
These springs have over 2.5 million gallons of water flowing through them each day, so they are natural, and not chlorinated.
Just outside the gift shop is the hottest and largest pool which is 112 degrees. A few minutes in here and you should be well done. The springs here have a large mineral content, but no sulfur smell. The facilities are well maintained and have showers, locker rooms and a gift shop. I bought a t shirt saying “I survived 112”. This spring is a bargain at $8 for week days, and $12 for weekends. Get more information at https://lavahotsprings.com/hotpools/
Continuing West on our road trip, we stopped at a mountain hillside to watch the sunset before spending the night in Twin falls Idaho. For good home style cooking, eat at Sheri’s café and pies. Make sure you check out Shoshone falls, when you’re in-Twin falls, the views of the falls are spectacular and at 212 feet, its falls are higher then Niagara. Its falls and canyons are carved by the Snake river which was besides us most of the trip.
The next morning our trip continued on about 2.5 hours’ drive to Miracle Hot springs, near Buhl Idaho. Miracle hot springs, has the silkiest feeling water, of anywhere I have yet soaked, they say their water has a ph. of 9.5. There are 4 outdoor public pools and 24 private clothing optional pools with an open roof to watch the stars. Cost for the public pools is $14. If you’d like to stay on grounds, there are geodesic domes you can camp in and 10 R.V. spots. There is also a pet alligator on grounds.
You can learn more at https://www.miraclehotsprings.com/
Another drive of 1.5 hours brought us to Idaho’s largest city and our stay for the last night… Boise. After a tasty lunch at Tacos del mar, we drove to our final hot spring of the trip, The Springs. About 38 miles north of Boise, near Idaho city, is the springs. Make a reservation before you go because they require it, and it was pretty busy when we arrived with 2 hours till closing time. Cost for a soak is $25. The Springs has one main hot pool and a medium size hot tub next to it. There are a few private tubs in the rear if you’d like to rent one. All along the edge of the main pool are cards you put upright to bring a waitstaff to you, and nearby are food and drink menus with items like charcuterie boards and specialty drinks, all of which they bring to you while you soak. Since it’s a mountain specialty, we had huckleberries in the huckleberry lemonade, which has a kick to it… good to help you relax in the hot waters. Soft music plays as you soak in the pool surrounded by Ponderosa Pines and mountain views
there is also a 7-room hotel just down the road that they own.
for more information check out https://www.thespringsid.com/
Idaho has many more hot springs, several of which are in terraced pools along its Rivers. We can’t wait to try those, but for now we enjoyed our southern Idaho hot springs road trip.