Circle Hot Springs
Circle Hot Springs is both a hot spring and a tiny unincorporated community, and the resort that once ran there, Arctic Circle Hot Springs, is closed. The water arrives hot, hotter than a person could stand. Steese Highway runs past and there is a small airstrip. The nearest town on the record is Deltana, well over a hundred miles away.
Roadside access, seventy-five feet or so from the road by the record's measure. Interior Alaska at under a thousand feet, cold and dry. Snow is light and total yearly precipitation is barely over a foot. Land ownership is blank on the record and so is any campground. The water, when last sampled in 1976, carried a fair load of dissolved minerals.
Winter months rank best. With the resort shut, do not assume there is a usable pool; the record says nothing about what is there now. Access status is also unstated. The source is hot enough to burn, so test before touching. You can drive in on the Steese Highway or fly into the strip.
Wikipedia places the community in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area and names it the site of the former Arctic Circle Hot Springs resort, now closed. The USGS sampled the spring in July 1976.
USGS hasn't flown a detailed laser scan here yet, so this view comes from aerial photos and older elevation data.
The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
- Setting
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the southwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 165 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southwest
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
The water at Circle Hot Springs is neutral (pH 7.2) with 809 mg/L total dissolved solids. It is notably rich in chloride (natural antiseptic with skin health benefits).
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Circle Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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