Indian Creek 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.
Indian Creek Hot Spring is a backcountry source in Custer County, Boise National Forest, nearly fifty miles from Challis. Where it surfaces the water is close to boiling. That rules out soaking at the source and makes it a hazard. Access is open, and reaching it means a hike of close to four miles from the nearest road.
Nothing about this is roadside. The closest road is almost four miles off, name unrecorded, and the spring sits at mid elevation in country that gets over ten feet of snow a year. National Forest land without a wilderness designation in our data. Johnson Creek Guard Station, nineteen miles distant, is the nearest camping our data has.
Our climate data favors midwinter for dryness, but with over ten feet of snow a year the route will be buried in those months. Water this hot will scald you instantly; do not touch it without checking. The 1979 survey is the only chemistry we have. No fee listed.
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 Indian Creek Hot Spring.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 616 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 twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 72% 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 Indian Creek Hot Spring is alkaline (pH 9.0).
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...
Indian Creek Hot Spring sits at 5,438 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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Alkaline Springs (pH ~9.0)
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