Hot Creek Warm Spring
Hot Creek Warm Spring is a Boise National Forest source in Valley County, about thirty miles from McCall as the crow flies. Water comes out at roughly body temperature, soaking warm without being hot, and the land is open to the public. The closest camping is the Johnson Creek Guard Station, only a couple of miles off.
Johnson Creek Road is the nearest road, and the spring is a bit over half a mile from it, so count on a walk. The elevation is mid-mountain, around fifty-five hundred feet. Snowfall here is heavy, roughly fourteen feet a year, and the area gets a fair amount of rain besides. National Forest ground, no added designation.
Midwinter shows up as the best window in our climate data, which is odd for a place with this much snow, so read that as the driest months and plan the approach with snow in mind. The guard station sits a couple of miles off. The only water sample we have dates to 1958. No fee on record.
The USGS sampled this water in September 1958, so the chemistry shown on the page is nearly seventy years old.
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 Hot Creek 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.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the northwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 989 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 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 35% 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 Hot Creek Warm Spring is alkaline (pH 8.7) with 252 mg/L total dissolved solids.
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Overview Johnson Creek Guard Station was built in 1922 and offers a charming mountain respite with modern conveniences. The cabin offers nearly everything needed for a pleasant and comfortable stay. Peak season for the cabin is typically early June through late September. It can be accessed by most vehicles via dirt and gravel roads, but trailers are not recommended.Recreation The cabin is near several trailheads into the Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness. These non-motorized tr...
Hot Creek Warm Spring sits at 5,575 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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Hot Creek Warm Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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