Eastern Oregon Hot Springs
We recently loaded up the camper and headed out to explore a corner of our home state of Oregon that is often overlooked. We had a goal of visiting as many hot springs in Southeastern Oregon that we could. Although not all are mentioned here, we were able to visit more than 10!
Here is the disclaimer: We are not into human soup. In other words we don’t really want to pay to get into a small commercialized hot tub with a bunch of strangers. We did check out a few commercial “pay” hot springs, but we only adventured into the wild hot springs. Here are some of our favorites and not so favorite spots.
Summer Lake
Summer lake hot springs are located in Lake County about 2 hours from Bend. This commercial hot spring, has an RV park, as well as small houses and cabins that are available to rent. The Summer Lake healing retreat is centered around the large covered pool. There are also several outdoor rock pools. The temperatures range from 106-118 f. The current owners have plans to continue to grow the area, and create a model for green design. Prices for the hot springs are:
$10.00 per person
6 & under, free
7 to 15, $5.00
Hart Mountain
Hart Mountain is an antelope reserve outside of tiny Plush Oregon. These hot springs are situated inside a campground within the refuge. The remoteness of these hot springs make it an ideal spot for private soaking. There are two pools. One pool is inside a rock enclosure and has some benches for towels and clothing. The other “outdoor” pool is not as deep and tends to be considerably hotter, and a bit murky when stirred.
Alvord Hot Springs
The Alvord Hot Springs sit on the edge of the great Alvord Desert. A huge dry lakebed that sits on the eastern side of Steen Mt. This hot spring is a commercial site offering a parking lot, bathrooms, pay camping, store, showers and on-site caretaker. Access for 24 hours costs $5.
Juntura Hot Spring
Juntura Hot Spring was a wonderful surprise to us once we found it. It sits fairly close to a main hwy, but you would never know it! This one took us a little bit of time and hard work to get to. The road leading to the hot spring is a 4×4 road, and you have walk across the river in order to access the spring. Once you find the spring you are in for a treat! The pool is very large and sits up above the river on the tip of a horseshoe bend. There are smaller pools along the river’s edge, but these get washed out regularly.
Willow Creek Hot Spring
This was one of our favorite hot springs on this trip. Sitting on a bluff overlooking the high desert Willow Creek Hot Spring is situated in a very remote part of Oregon. Even though the spring sits right on the side of a dirt road we only saw one other vehicle the whole time we were there. There are no homes close by and you have to travel down a long dirt road before getting to the spring. Once you are there you can enjoy a huge pool that has been separated into two smaller pools. There is a little bridge that you can walk across between the two pools and you can easily go back and forth between the pools depending on how crazy your kids are being.
Mickey Hot Springs
We were SO excited to explore around Mickey Hot Spring that we were a little disappointed when we saw a sign warning people to stay out of the springs. Once we saw the springs we knew why. They were boiling!! There were boiling mud pits and steam vents all over the place. This is clearly a place with a lot of geothermal activity happening right at the surface of the earth. It’s a fun place to walk around and check out, but I would stay out of the water if I were you. Plus it smells like dragon breath!
For more info on all the hot springs in Oregon check out https://soakoregon.com
