Downata Hot Springs
Downata Hot Springs belongs to Oneida County, down in Idaho's southeast, about 16 miles from Malad City. Soaking warm water, 109 degrees. No owner is listed and access is blank, so the record does not settle who may use it. A photograph exists. For camping the record lists Malad Summit Guard Station, nine and a half miles off.
Two tenths of a mile on foot from South Downata Road. The spring sits at roughly 4,800 feet in country where winters are real without being extreme, five or six feet of snow, and precipitation is moderate. The record says nothing more about the terrain.
The record favors winter. At 109 most people can get straight in. The chemistry sample, from 1972, is one of the more complete on file for this state, with dissolved solids measured and iron present, and the pH reads slightly acidic, which is unusual among the Idaho springs on this site. Confirm access before you go; nothing on record settles it.
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 Downata Hot Springs.
Drag the handle to compare the two views. 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
- 134 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southwest
A slice through the ground from south to north, 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 40% 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 Downata Hot Springs is slightly acidic (pH 6.7) with 266 mg/L total dissolved solids.
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Overview Malad Summit Guard Station is located 14 miles north of Malad, Idaho on Malad Pass just off I-15. The rustic one-room cabin is in a forested setting in narrow Mill Creek Drainage, and offers a secluded retreat on fenced acreage surrounded by scenic high country views. The original guard station was established in 1908, but was replaced by the existing cabin in 1934. The cabin is accessible by car when there is no snow. Guests should be prepared in snowy conditions to ski, snowshoe...
Downata Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.