Jeff Birkby - Touring Hot Springs Washington and Oregon: The States Best Resorts and Rustic Soaks

Jeff Birkbys fascination with hot springs began in the early 1980s when he managed geothermal-energy projects for the Montana Department of Natural Resources. During his years of working for the state of Montana, Jeff developed a passion for hot springs lore, especially the stories and legends of hot springs in the northwestern United States. Jeff is a member of the Humanities Montana Speakers Bureau and often lectures on the social history of hot springs of the West. Jeff is also the author of the FalconGuide Touring Hot Springs Montana and Wyoming, as well as Geothermal Energy in MontanaA Consumers Guide, published by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. He also authored Images of AmericaMontanas Hot Springsthrough Arcadia Publishing in 2018.

Jeff consults with hot springs owners on how they can use their geothermal resources for greenhouse, pool, and space heating, as well as for electric power generation.

More than a dozen soakable hot springs are within a 2-hour drive of Jeffs home in Missoula, Montana.

If you have comments, corrections, or fresh information about any Washington or Oregon hot springs, send your insights to Jeff Birkby c/o Falcon Publishing, or e-mail Jeff at . He will check out your information for future editions of this guide.

Many of the quirky histories of Washington and Oregon hot springs would never have found their way into this book without the help of dozens of librarians, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management personnel, museum archivists, and hot springs resort owners. My thanks to all the public servants and private hot springs owners who searched their memories and file cabinets to unearth the quotes and facts that fill these pages.

Thanks also to my many friends and family members who turned what might have been lonely solo trips into joyful adventures to Sol Duc, Breitenbush, Soap Lake, and many other soaking spots during my research for all three editions of this guide.

This third edition of the guide to Washington and Oregon hot springs is again dedicated to my parents, Robert and Evelyn Birkby, who have joined me on many a hot springs trip in the Northwest over the past four decades.

The authors parents and their grandson enjoy a rainy day soak at Sol Duc Hot Springs.

The hot springs listed in the previous sections all provide wonderful soaking opportunities. But there are also several other hot springs that for various reasons arent open for public bathing. In some cases hot springs pools and resorts that were once open to all have been purchased by owners who closed the bathing options to the public (and in some cases have even removed the soaking pools entirely). And some old spas have fallen into ruin, their empty pools and crumbling walls sitting quietly in open fields that were once filled with the laughter of soakers in decades past.

The four additional hot springs listed below no longer provide a soothing soak to visitors, but they have such interesting histories that its worth including them in this guide (after all, this is a touringguide to hot springs, and not just a soakingguide!). If you happen to be near one of these closed hot springs, feel free to stop on public roads that provide a view of the closed resorts or old ruins. Savor the history from a distance, but dont trespass on private property for a closer look.

General description: A slumbering hot-water well that was at one time the site of the largest continuously erupting geyser in the United States.

Location: South-central Oregon, 3 miles north of Adel.

Development: Three geothermal exploration wells were drilled across the road from the Crump Geyser well in 2012. These wells have intersected 265-degree-F thermal waters. Exploration has continued over the past decade, with plans to develop a geo-thermal power plant if sufficient water flow and temperature are found.

Best time to visit: Although the well that produces Crump Geyser has a fascinating history, its probably not worth a special trip just to see an enclosed wellhead. Nevertheless, if youre visiting Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge or Hunters Hot Springs in Lakeview, consider looping south through the Warner Valley to take a look at the well. The road past Crump Geyser is open year-round, so you can visit any time of the year.

Restrictions: No Trespassing signs are posted on the fence enclosing the well at Crump Geyser. You can park your car about 50 yards from the well, but thats about as close as you can approach.

Access: Any vehicle can drive on paved CR 3-10 to see the hot-water well.

Water temperature: The water temperature in the well has been measured at 220 to 230 degrees F.