Clear Creek Hot Springs
The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Clear Creek Hot Springs is a scalding thermal spring in Northwest Arctic Borough, a hundred and forty miles from Kotzebue and nowhere near a road. Who owns the land is unknown, and so is whether the public may go. No campground is listed. What the USGS has is a thermal point with a temperature attached and little else.
Backcountry by any measure, thirteen-odd miles out from an unnamed road. Low elevation, a few hundred feet. The climate is Arctic and fairly dry. Below freezing on average, with around seven feet of snow. Whatever trail or river route people use to get here, the record does not describe it.
The coldest months score best on file. Treat the water as dangerous at the source; it will scald skin on contact. Access is not stated, so find out before you plan around it. There is no chemistry on file and no sample date, so the temperature itself comes from an unspecified survey.
USGS hasn't flown a detailed laser scan here yet, so this view comes from aerial photos and older elevation data.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 346 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
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.
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Clear Creek Hot Springs requires a hike to reach, so pack light but prepared. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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