Alkali Flats Warm Spring
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Alkali Flats Warm Spring runs thin and comes out a touch under body heat. It's in Bingham County, Idaho, roughly twenty-four miles from Shelley, and sits inside the Fort Hall Reservation, so this is tribal ground. Nothing on record says if the public can go. USGS measured the flow and got a trickle.
High, dry country, around fifty-seven hundred feet, with cold winters that bring upward of five feet of snow. The nearest road has no name on record and sits a little under a mile off; the walk is listed as short. The land lies within the reservation, and no Field Office or forest is attached to it.
Start with the access question. The reservation has not been recorded as open, so get permission before walking in. Morgans Bridge Campground is the closest camping on file, a little over four miles off. Winter months are the ones listed as best, which is odd for a spring below body heat. The chemistry dates to a 1977 sample.
Aircraft with laser scanners measured this ground to within inches. The scan strips out trees and buildings, leaving the bare shape of the land around Alkali Flats Warm Spring.
- Setting
- Open ground
- Flat, open ground all around.
- Highest ground nearby
- 4 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southeast
A slice through the ground from northwest to southeast, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's about 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 50% of the springs on this site.
Heat flow measures the warmth working its way up through the ground from deep inside the earth. Where it runs high, rain and snowmelt that seep down through cracks in the rock come back up hot.
See every spring on the geothermal heat map →
Heat flow estimate: Stanford Thermal Earth Model (Aljubran & Horne, 2024), CC BY 4.0.
The water at Alkali Flats Warm Spring is slightly acidic (pH 6.6). It is notably rich in calcium (may support bone density and joint health), magnesium (known for muscle relaxation and stress relief), and sulfate (traditionally used for skin conditions and inflammation).
This BLM managed site located along the Blackfoot River that has opportunities for fishing, camping, and non-motorized boating. Campground rules and regulations are posted at the site. There are no dumpsters on site, visitors must pack in and out their trash. Campsites: 12 developed sites--- 10 which are accessible by vehicle and 2 which are walk-in only. At this time, there is not a reservation system in place for the campsites. Campsites are on a first come first serve basis. This site is e...
Alkali Flats Warm Spring sits at 5,675 feet above sea level, way above the mile-high mark. You may not feel the altitude strongly, but hot water still dehydrates you faster at elevation. UV is about 23% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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