Running Warm 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.
Running Warm Springs is on Nezperce National Forest land in Ravalli County, about 24 miles from Hamilton. Despite the name, the 1982 reading was hot, a little above soaking temperature, with strongly alkaline water. The public is allowed in. Hamilton is the nearest town in the record and the spring sits well out from it.
Running Creek Road is the nearest road, a bit over half a mile away, so plan on a walk. This is wet country for the region: three feet of precipitation and snowfall past twelve feet. Moderate elevation. The forest is Forest Service ground with the plain national forest designation.
Paradise Campground is the nearest camp in the record, nearly ten miles off. December through February are the months given as best, though that much snow makes winter access a question. Chemistry dates to 1982, as does the temperature, so both figures are over forty 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 Running Warm Springs.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 666 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the west
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 44% 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 Running Warm Springs is alkaline (pH 9.7).
Paradise Campground is located near the Paradise Boating Site which is one of the most popular launching sites on the Selway River. The campground consists of 11 sites complete with picnic tables, and fire rings. Other facilities include 3 vault toilets, hitching rails, and feed bunks. Campground can accommodate RV's or trailers to 25 feet.
Springs Near Running Warm Springs
More Springs Around 106°F
Alkaline Springs (pH ~9.7)
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