Loftus Hot Spring
Loftus Hot Spring is a roadside thermal source within the Boise National Forest, thirteen or so miles out of Idaho City, Boise County, Idaho. Open to the public per the record. Hot water, hot enough that it needs cooling before anyone sits in it, and the 1981 sample shows it to be strongly alkaline. There is a campground a few miles along.
Middle Fork Road runs right by, under a hundred feet from the water. Forest Service land, nothing special in the designation. The spring sits fairly low for Idaho mountain country, yet the snow comes down in quantity, something close to nine feet a winter, and the area gets a fair amount of rain through the year.
The record leans winter. Ninemeyer Campground is about three miles away. Test the water before you get in; at the recorded heat it will burn if you are careless. The water is notably alkaline. Chemistry dates to 1981. Nothing on file mentions a fee.
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 Loftus 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.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 558 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the south
A slice through the ground from west to east, 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 82% 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 Loftus Hot Spring is alkaline (pH 9.6).
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Overview:Due to a wildfire, there are no amenities at the campground. Currently there are no developed campfire rings therefore when Stage 1 fire restrictions area in effect, no fires are permitted.A stay at Ninemeyer Campground enables guests to enjoy all the beauty and recreation offered along the (Middle Fork Boise River Road) Forest Service (FS) Road 268. Weather is usually good from mid-May through late September and is easily accessible by car in good weather, although the road is some...
Loftus Hot Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key.
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