Durfee 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.
Off Elba-Almo Road in Cassia County, about 31 miles from Burley, Durfee Spring comes up soaking warm at 102 degrees. Who owns it is unrecorded, as is public access. No USGS site number exists for it and no chemistry is on record. Burley is a long drive and the nearest town of any size.
The spring is roadside, about a hundred feet from Elba-Almo Road, at around 5,400 feet. Around four feet of snow falls here in a winter, in a climate that is dry by Idaho mountain standards. Independence Lakes Campground is the closest camping, about eight miles off. That is all the record has on the setting, and no photo exists.
January, December, February is the order the best-months entry gives. The water at 102 is a comfortable soak if conditions allow. With no chemistry on file and no USGS record, the temperature stands alone and its source is not given. Ownership needs checking first, since access is unrecorded.
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 Durfee Spring.
- Setting
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the northwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 190 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 2½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 98% 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.
Independence Lake Campground and Picnic Area is a non-fee campground and picnic area where reservations are not required. There are 5 single sites. This area is accessible for a season that varies usually between July through October. Sites are handicapped accessible. Campground amenities include 9 tables and grills, toilets, and livestock facilities. No drinking water or trash service is available. Nearby Independence Lakes Trail (#35) is 3.1 miles to the Lake. Only non-motorized travel is...
Durfee Spring sits at 5,383 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 22% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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