Road-trip guide · Hot springs
Twelve Hot Springs Worth Building a Road Trip Around
Twelve soaks worth planning a drive around — from the world’s largest hot-springs pool to a free desert tub you share with wild horses — pulled from our full set of 90. Pick a corner of the map and let the steam set the route.
A hot spring is the rare stop that rewards bad weather. Snow on the road, a cold front, the short gray days of a mountain winter — none of it matters once you’re chest-deep in mineral water with the steam rising off the surface. A soak turns a driving day into the reason for the trip: you point the car at the water and let everything in between become the scenery.
These twelve are the ones worth routing around, pulled from our full set of 90 across the mountain West and beyond — resort pools you book a night at, town plunges open to everyone, and wild primitive tubs you earn on foot. Each one links to its own guide, so you can string a soak or three down a route and know exactly what kind of water you’re driving toward.
- 1Glenwood Hot SpringsGlenwood Springs, Colorado
The world’s largest hot-springs pool and a Colorado institution since 1888 — a year-round resort soak in the heart of Glenwood Springs, and the easiest marquee stop on this list.
- 2Hot Springs State ParkThermopolis, Wyoming
Free soaking at the world’s largest mineral hot spring — a Wyoming state park in Thermopolis where the water is open to everyone, year-round, at no charge.
- 3Chico Hot SpringsPray, Montana
A beloved 1900 resort in Montana’s Paradise Valley near Yellowstone — an open-air pool you can soak in year-round while the snow comes down around you.
- 4Goldbug Hot SpringsSalmon, Idaho
A two-mile climb out of Salmon to a string of cascading creekside pools — a primitive Idaho soak you earn on foot, best from spring through fall.
- 5Homestead CraterMidway, Utah
Swim, soak, or even scuba dive inside a 55-foot-deep limestone dome near Midway — a warm crater unlike anything else on this list, open year-round.
- 6Ojo CalienteOjo Caliente, New Mexico
One of the oldest natural-spring spas in the country, set apart by its rare spread of distinct mineral pools — a serene, year-round resort in the village of Ojo Caliente.
- 7Spencer Hot SpringsAustin, Nevada
Free desert tubs near Austin, with wild horses often nearby and the Toiyabe Range on the horizon — Nevada soaking at its most wide-open, best in spring and fall.
- 8Travertine Hot SpringsBridgeport, California
Free terraced pools on an orange travertine ridge above Bridgeport, with the Eastern Sierra filling the view — a primitive soak best from spring through fall.
- 9Umpqua Hot SpringsIdleyld Park, Oregon
Travertine pools set on a bluff high over the North Umpqua River — a wild Oregon soak in the Cascade forest, open year-round.
- 10Sol Duc Hot SpringsPort Angeles, Washington
Mineral pools tucked into the rainforest of Olympic National Park — a resort soak deep in the Washington wilds, best from spring through fall.
- 11Chena Hot SpringsFairbanks, Alaska
Soak under the northern lights at a resort outside Fairbanks that keeps its own ice museum — the aurora is the winter headliner, and the water runs year-round.
- 12Hot Springs National ParkHot Springs, Arkansas
The country’s oldest protected area, where a row of grand historic bathhouses lines the main street of Hot Springs — proof the soak tradition runs well east of the Rockies, and open year-round.
String two or three of these into a route and the drive plans itself — the Rockies resort towns, the wild tubs of the Great Basin, the rainforest pools of the Northwest. Roamward maps the scenic way between them, flags the family-friendly resort pools apart from the primitive soaks you hike to, and finds the towns worth a night along the way.
Common questions
What’s the best hot spring for a road trip in the U.S.?
It depends on the kind of soak you want. Glenwood Hot Springs in Colorado is the easiest big-name stop — the world’s largest hot-springs pool, right in town and open year-round. For something wilder, Nevada’s free Spencer tubs or Idaho’s hike-in Goldbug pools trade the crowds for the desert and the mountains. The best one is usually the soak that already sits on your route.
Which hot springs are free to visit?
Several of the best. Wyoming’s Hot Springs State Park offers free soaking at the world’s largest mineral hot spring, and primitive spots like Spencer Hot Springs in Nevada and Travertine in California are open desert and mountain pools with no gate and no charge. Resort soaks like Glenwood, Chico, and Ojo Caliente charge admission or a room.
When is the best time to soak in a hot spring?
Winter is the classic season — there’s nothing like sinking into hot mineral water while snow falls around a mountain pool, and resorts like Glenwood, Chico, and Chena stay open year-round for exactly that. Wilder primitive soaks are safest in spring and fall, when creek and river levels are lower and the access roads are open.
What’s the difference between resort, developed, and primitive hot springs?
It’s the axis this guide is built on. Resort springs are lodges and spas you book a soak or a night at; developed springs are public pools and bathhouses, often in town and open to everyone; primitive springs are wild, undeveloped tubs you reach on foot or a rough road, with no services. Families tend to want resort and developed pools, while adventurers chase the primitive ones.