Every spring within a three-hour drive, ordered by how long it actually takes to get there. From free riverside soaks along the Middle Fork of the Boise River to developed resorts out on the Snake River plain — real road times, so you can see what fits a day and what’s worth an overnight.
Boise sits within a few hours of dozens of hot springs, most of them wild. The largest share are free, primitive soaks strung along the Middle Fork of the Boise River and up the forest roads north toward Garden Valley, Crouch and Lowman — pools you reach by a short walk, a rough drive, or a summer river ford. A smaller set are developed: family plunges, town pools and resorts with camping and cabins, mostly east toward the Snake River. Below, every spring within about a three-hour drive, grouped by how far out it is. For the whole state, see thecomplete Idaho guide.
The quick ones — a developed plunge northwest near Sweet, a riverside pool down the Snake at Melba, and the soaking pools up at Idaho City. Close enough for an easy afternoon out of town.
Near Sweet, a covered 50-foot mineral pool and a jetted hot tub are booked privately by the group rather than shared, the water running about 95 to 104 degrees. Swimwear is required, and the grounds include a campground and an event center.
A historic community plunge near the Snake River at Melba, built around a large indoor mineral pool with an enclosed kiddie pool. Day passes are sold for all ages and swimwear is required. Tent and RV sites, rental trailers and a cabin round it out.
Reservation-only soaking near Idaho City, with two main pools and private tubs rented by the hour. Several days a week are set aside for adults, while day sessions are sold for adults and children. A studio offers massage, and lodging sits a short way off.
Comfortable day trips up into the mountains around Idaho City, Garden Valley, Crouch and Lowman, plus a run of developed resorts east along the Snake River near Hagerman and Buhl. Leave in the morning, back by evening.
A metal-box soaking pool and a rock-walled source pool sit just off the Banks-Lowman Highway by the South Fork Payette. The source runs very hot, so the soak temperature varies; watch for rock and mud slides along this stretch of road.
Roadside soaking on the bank of the Owyhee River, a short walk from the parking area and free to use. Geothermal water emerges nearby and mixes with the river, so the pool can run anywhere from cool to very hot. Clothing is optional, and spring runoff sometimes submerges the pool.
Three soaking pools sit by the Middle Fork Payette beside the remnants of an old bathhouse, the main one near 110 degrees in summer. Two riverside pools flood in spring. Any vehicle can reach the parking area, with a short steep trail down to the river.
Open year-round, the outdoor geothermal pool at this Garden Valley golf resort sells day passes for all ages plus a monthly pass for regulars. Swimwear is required, and lodging and RV sites sit beside the course.
Guest cabins on the Middle Fork of the Boise River, each with a private sulphur-free soaking tub and a shared river-rock steam house. Soaking is for overnight guests only, with no day use, and the access road is rough enough to want a high-clearance vehicle.
Small tarp- and rock-dammed pools with a river view sit a short hike from a bridge on the Middle Fork Boise Road, around 98 degrees. Camping is close by, and the temperature is worth confirming.
Below a thirty-foot hot waterfall on the Middle Fork Boise, user-built pools appear only in late summer as the river drops. Reaching them means a ford at low water, and the temperature is worth confirming.
At Hagerman, a large indoor geothermal pool comes with a tube slide, diving boards and a kiddie pool, while private hot tubs let guests set their own temperature. Swimwear is required in the main pool, though optional in the private tubs. RV and tent sites and a pair of cabins round out the resort.
A large pool fed from the bottom sits in a remote Bruneau River canyon, holding around 102 degrees year-round, with clothing optional. A short trail leads in, longer without four-wheel drive; the functioning soak is the Lower Indian Bathtub.
Upper and lower stone-and-cement pools sit on a remote hillside with mountain views north of Glenns Ferry, running about 100 to 104 degrees and filtered through PVC pipes. Getting there means rough four-wheel-drive road and up to two miles on foot from a BLM gate.
A warm-water waterfall spills into rock pools above the South Fork Payette, with cooler pools down by the river, the hottest around 107 degrees. It is a free soak reached by a short, steep quarter-mile scramble from the campground.
Three separate sources, one roadside and two across the river, feed a few soakable pools along the Middle Fork Boise. Temperatures vary, and reaching the far pools means a river ford at low water.
Two user-built rock pools, one fed by a hot waterfall, sit beside the Middle Fork Boise Road, around 100 to 102 degrees. The road is rough and washboarded, and it is worth watching for broken glass and poison ivy around the pools.
A multi-tier waterfall feeds three cascading rock-and-sand pools on a hillside, with more pools at the river's edge. The soakable water runs around 105 degrees, hotter up top, and reaching it means fording the Middle Fork Payette.
Four flow-through geothermal pools near Buhl hold soft, alkaline water between about 96 and 106 degrees, drained daily rather than chlorinated. Reservations are required for all soaking, including the private pools and a cold plunge. Day passes are sold, and lodging runs to geodesic domes and campsites.
Just outside Buhl, an artesian source rises at 138 degrees and feeds a large outdoor mineral pool and five private soaking tubs, cooled to a comfortable 89 to 102 degrees. A boat launch reaches the Snake River, and there is an RV park and tent camping. Swimwear is required in the public pool.
User-built pools sit on the far side of the Middle Fork Boise, reachable only by fording at low water from late summer into fall. National Forest campgrounds line the road nearby, and the pool temperature is worth confirming.
In Lowman, a long pool with a hot side and a cooler side is booked by the hour rather than by a set admission, its water running between about 85 and 104 degrees. Motel rooms come with private backyard tubs, and there are RV, glamping and tent sites plus a cafe.
Roadside pools and hot waterfalls line the South Fork of the Payette below a Forest Service parking area, reached by a short staircase. The waterfall pools run from the mid-90s to about 110 degrees, cooler by the river, and a small day-use parking fee applies.
A roadside soak near a bridge on the South Fork Boise, close to Featherville, reachable by vehicle in summer and fall. Its temperature and pool details are not well documented and are worth confirming.
At Cambridge, a single natural mineral pool is drained and refilled weekly instead of chemically treated, with a poolhouse for after-hours soaking. Day soaks are sold for all ages by reservation, alongside RV and tent sites and a cabin.
A single open-air pool with a gravel bottom, near Featherville, is fed straight from a natural hot spring on Grouse Creek, its temperature shifting with the season between roughly 90 and 108 degrees. Two-hour day-use sessions are sold, and lodging ranges from lodge rooms to cabins, glamping and RV sites.
A thirty-foot hot waterfall feeds shallow pools across the Middle Fork Boise, with a hidden soaker out of sight of the road, running about 98 to 102 degrees. The major river ford should only be tried at low water, usually in August.
Worth the drive. Primitive soaks deep in the mountains around Atlanta, Featherville, Grandjean and Stanley, and the northern springs toward Cascade, McCall and Council — a long day out or an easy overnight.
A single flow-through geothermal pool with the original mine-shaft entrance still visible in it, near Garden Valley. The water sits around 97 to 100 degrees, swimwear is required, and day passes are sold. Cabins, A-frames and campsites make an easy overnight.
At the end of the Middle Fork Payette road, 175-degree water cools into a rock-and-concrete pool below a cliff, a short walk from the campground. Swimwear is required, and a historic Forest Service guard station beside it now rents as a cabin.
A cluster of rock-walled riverside pools, also called Roaring River, blends hot and cold water beside the Middle Fork Boise Road and is rebuilt each year after runoff. Sizes and temperatures shift from season to season.
Volunteer-built rock pools line Warm Springs Creek beside a rustic soak shack, where a cast-iron tub piped from the spring reaches about 104 degrees. A short trail leads in from the parking area, and swimwear is required.
Seasonal riverside rock pools blend hot and cold water right beside the Middle Fork Boise Road, with river views and ample parking. They sit underwater through spring runoff and settle out best from late July into November.
Four small silty pools of varying temperature string along an almost-dry creek near Featherville, reached by a short hike from a transfer camp. The forest road in is closed through the winter, and pool temperatures shift with the season.
A roadside soak in the Fairfield area, easy to drive to. Beyond its drive-up access little is documented, so its temperature and layout are worth confirming before a trip.
A fifteen-by-twenty-foot concrete pool with a deck, changing rooms and toilets sits in a Forest Service campground on the South Fork Boise near Featherville. Fed by a 110-degree source and running 101 to 110 degrees, it is a free flow-through pool, and swimsuits are required.
Two rock-and-cement pools sit near the Warm Lake Highway, fed by a 125-degree source that soakers cool with creek water. A short, steep path drops to the canyon floor, and it is popular with families, so swimwear is the norm.
Six terraced flow-through pools step down a hillside near Donnelly, from about 110 degrees at the top to 85 at the bottom. Swimwear is required and admission is cash only; it is a day-use site with no lodging.
Dozens of log- and rock-dammed pools and a hot creek spread across a hillside in the Smoky Mountains, with a larger pool at the base. Temperatures vary widely from pool to pool, and the forest road in is closed through the winter.
A small sunken wooden box that just fits two sits a few feet off a Sawtooth National Forest road, around 102 degrees. The road in is closed from fall through mid-spring, and the wood can be slick with algae.
South of Twin Falls near Hollister, a large chlorinated swimming pool with a slide and diving boards runs from about 92 to 99 degrees, with a hotter mineral soak pool alongside reaching 104 to 106. The complex opens for the summer season and includes a 75-site campground. Swimsuits are required.
Strung along the South Fork of the Payette near Grandjean, these rock pools run about 96 to 102 degrees and feed the nearby lodge pool. They are free and easy to reach, with picnic tables at the pullout.
An artesian well of 84-degree water feeds a shower pipe, a bathtub and a rock pool right beside the Middle Fork Boise Road, well west of Atlanta. It is warm rather than hot, an easy year-round drive-up stop.
At Grandjean, a rustic lodge keeps a geothermal pool and stock-tank soaks fed by the local spring, for guests staying in its cabins, yurts or campsites. It runs through the warmer months, reached by an unpaved forest road up the South Fork Payette.
A large sandy-bottomed pool with canyon views sits along Dash Creek, around 106 to 110 degrees and clothing-optional. It lies a couple of miles' hike beyond Boiling Springs, roughly eighty yards from its companion, Pine Burl.
The smaller and more private of a pair, this rock-and-mortar pool is plumbed with hot and cold pipes so soakers can fine-tune it, around 106 to 110 degrees and clothing-optional. It sits about eighty yards from Moondipper, a couple of miles past Boiling Springs.
A hike-in soak in the Featherville area, open in summer and fall. Little is documented about its pools or temperature, so it is best confirmed locally before setting out.
A small adults-only soak near Council, open for day use on short afternoon hours. Little else is documented, so the details are worth confirming before a trip.
A rock-walled soaking pool on a small island in the Malheur River near Juntura, reached by fording the channel at low water. The main pool sits around 105 to 115 degrees, cooling toward the river's edge. Access needs a high-clearance vehicle, and the crossing is unsafe during spring runoff.
Five vacation rentals near Brundage, each with its own private geothermal pool running roughly 85 to 104 degrees. Soaking comes with a stay rather than a day ticket, so booking one of the houses is the way in.
Seasonal pipe-fed pools cling to a steep hillside above the South Fork Salmon River, with a faint sulfur scent and clothing-optional soaking. A short trail and a footbridge lead in; the source runs to about 120 degrees, cooled to taste in the pools.
Operated by the Nez Perce Tribe near New Meadows, with two pools, a hotter soaking pool and a larger swimming pool between about 90 and 105 degrees, open most of the year. An RV park and campground adjoin them.
Geothermal water on the Middle Fork Payette fills volunteer-built rock-and-sand pools that are rebuilt after each spring runoff. The source runs near 128 degrees, though the pools shift with the season, and a short walk leads in from the road.
A rock-walled pool on Warm Springs Creek, with smaller jacuzzi-like pools forming downstream when the creek runs low. The water sits around 96 to 98 degrees, worth confirming, and reaching it takes a two-mile hike from the trailhead.
Just east of the old mining town of Atlanta, a volunteer soaking pool runs about 100 to 110 degrees, with a larger warm Frog Pond for summer swimming. The road in wants a high-clearance vehicle, and swimsuits are the norm.
Near Atlanta, hot water streams down a cliff face into a rock-and-sand pool at its base, around 100 to 110 degrees, with clothing optional. Reaching it means a steep hundred-foot descent from the parking area.
Near American Falls, a large spring-fed swimming pool sits on a two-hundred-acre property, its water held around 90 to 92 degrees and fed by six springs. Two water slides run alongside, and the grounds include an RV park and tent sites for longer stays.
An eight-by-fifteen-foot pool bubbles up through a gravel bottom in dark volcanic rock near Carey, around 100 degrees, with no facilities. A short walk leads from a gravel turnout, though the land boundaries here are uncertain and access could change.
Three natural mineral tubs, Osprey, Bluebird and Sandhill Crane, sit a 550-yard walk from a Stanley lodge, all booked by reservation and left without added chemicals at around 100 degrees. Non-guests can reserve, and nudity is not allowed.
A single clear pool on Valley Creek with Sawtooth Mountain views, a short drive from Stanley down a gravel road. The water ranges from the upper 90s to about 105 degrees by season, and swimwear is required.
Quick answers on getting from Boise to a soak — the closest options, day-trip range, road access and what to expect in winter.
Roystone Hot Springs in Sweet is the closest, about 56m by car.
Yes. 26 of the springs on this page are within a two-hour drive, which makes an easy round trip in a day. The more remote soaks around Atlanta, Stanley and McCall work better as a long day out or an overnight.
Yes — most of the springs here are undeveloped, no-cost soaks in the mountains, with Pine Flats, Rocky Canyon and Sacajawea among the better known. A few, like Kirkham, charge a small day-use or parking fee. The rest are developed pools and resorts, and this page mixes both, sorted by distance from the city.
For the developed pools and resorts, no — they are drive-up on paved roads. Many of the wild soaks are different: they sit down rough forest roads, and some, like Ninemeyer and Browns Creek, are reached only by fording the river at low water in late summer. Check road and river conditions before setting out.
The developed town pools and resorts stay open year-round. Many of the wild springs are seasonal — the forest roads to places like Willow Creek, Worswick and Baumgartner typically close from around October to mid-May, and mountain drives can need more time or the right vehicle in snow. Treat the drive times here as fair-weather estimates.
A handful are clothing-optional, mostly the remote wild soaks such as Prince Albert, Moondipper and Chattanooga. The developed resorts, town pools and family plunges expect swimwear. Each listing notes the clothing policy where we have it.