Ninemeyer Hot Springs
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Ninemeyer Hot Springs is scalding. The source temperature is far above anything a person can enter, hot enough to cause serious burns on contact. It sits in the Boise National Forest, in Boise County, a short walk off Middle Fork Road and about fourteen miles from Idaho City, with Ninemeyer Campground a stone's throw away. Access is open. The water sampled in 1982 was strongly alkaline.
Forest land a little under four thousand feet up. A wet climate for Idaho, and a normal winter brings ten feet of snow, so expect deep snow across the cold months. From Middle Fork Road the walk is short. The campground is nearer still. Forest Service land throughout, and nothing in the record about the ground itself.
The season flag points to midwinter, though at this temperature the season matters less than the water itself. Do not get in at the source. Look for a place where it has mixed with cold water and test it with a hand before anything else. Camp at Ninemeyer Campground, right there. There is no fee entry.
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 Ninemeyer Hot Springs.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the south.
- Highest ground nearby
- 648 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the south
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 88% 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 Ninemeyer Hot Springs is alkaline (pH 9.6) with 245 mg/L total dissolved solids.
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...
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