Soak the Rockies

There are hot springs, and then there are Rockies hot springs.

Here, the water comes up through ancient granite and volcanic rock, carrying minerals that have been brewing for millennia. You can soak in a remote Idaho canyon with nobody for miles, or float in a 106°F pool while bison graze in the valley below in Wyoming. Some pools require a 4WD and a willingness to hike. Others come with a spa menu and a robe. We cover both — because the best soak is the one that fits your adventure.

The Rockies stretch from Idaho through Montana and into Wyoming, and along their fault lines, groundwater heated by the earth's crust rises to the surface. That geology has created more than 250 soakable springs across the region — from backcountry pools reached only by trail in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness to historic bathhouses built during the mining boom of the 1880s in Montana.

Some are a short walk from the parking lot. Others require a full day's hike and a night in a tent. All of them carry the same minerals that have drawn people to these mountains for over a century.