Lower Loon Creek Hot Spring
Lower Loon Creek Hot Spring, which OpenStreetMap lists as Loon Creek Hot Spring, is on the Challis National Forest in Custer County, thirty-five miles from Challis. It comes out hot, above soaking temperature at the source. Access is open. It is under half a mile from the nearest road, and there is a photo on file.
Under half a mile on foot from a road that has no name in our data. Elevation is around four thousand feet, with heavy snow, eight or nine feet a year, and moderate precipitation. Yellowjacket Guard Station is twenty-one miles distant, the nearest camping on record. National Forest land, no wilderness tag attached.
Our chart shows midwinter as the dry season, but snow will be the limiting factor then. Let it cool. Test it with a hand before anything else goes in. Chemistry from a 1980 survey. Listed as open. Nobody has recorded a fee.
In June 1980 the USGS sampled the spring. OpenStreetMap drops the Lower from the name and calls it Loon Creek Hot Spring.
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 Lower Loon 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.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 841 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the west
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, 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 77% 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 Lower Loon Creek Hot Spring is alkaline (pH 9.0).
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Overview Yellowjacket Guard Station is a historic Forest Service Ranger Station and Work Center. Originally constructed in 1925 and remodeled in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the structure is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Recreation Hikers, horseback riders, mountain bikers and off-road enthusiasts will find many trails in the surrounding area. Hunting is also a popular activity. Click here for an Idaho OHV safety messageFacilities The spacious...
Lower Loon Creek Hot Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key.
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