Cabarton Hot 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.
Scalding. That is the first thing to know about Cabarton Hot Spring. The source runs at a hundred and sixty degrees, well past what skin can stand, and it lies a little over six miles from Cascade in Valley County, a short walk in from Cabarton Road. Who owns the ground is not on record, and there is no entry for public access either, so read this as a note on a thermal source and nothing more.
Cabarton Road gets you within a tenth of a mile. From there it is on foot, though what lies between road and water is not described anywhere in the file. Elevation is moderate for this part of the state, under five thousand feet, in a valley that takes twelve feet of snow most winters and a good deal of rain across the rest of the year. French Creek campground is the closest one listed, about nine miles out.
December through February come up as the top months, which is strange in a place that gets this much snow. Water this hot will scald you. Keep off the source. No owner is attached to this ground, and permission to be on it goes unstated, so ask around town first. That pH goes back to 1979.
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 Cabarton Hot Spring.
- Setting
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the northwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 231 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
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 twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 87% 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 Cabarton Hot Spring is alkaline (pH 9.0).
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Overview French Creek Campground is located next to scenic Lake Cascade in west-central Idaho. It is near the town of Donnelly, at an elevation of 4,850 feet. Boating, fishing, swimming and hiking are popular activities in this scenic region.Recreation Lake Cascade offers excellent opportunities for boating, water skiing, canoeing, windsurfing and sailing. Anglers enjoy casting for rainbow trout, coho salmon, smallmouth bass and perch. Many hiking and biking trails are in the area as well.Fac...
Cabarton Hot Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Springs Near Cabarton Hot Spring
More Springs Around 160°F
Alkaline Springs (pH ~9.0)
Hike 6 waterfalls near Cabarton Hot Spring
Looking for more outdoor adventures? Explore waterfall hikes near Cabarton Hot Spring, Idaho.