Snowshoe Johnsons 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.
Snowshoe Johnsons Hot Spring takes some walking to reach. It sits in the Salmon National Forest, Custer County, more than forty miles from Challis. Hot, a notch past soaking range, and entry is open to all. No chemistry on file, and the USGS has no site number for it, so the temperature reading stands alone.
Hoodoo Meadows Road is where the walking starts, close to three miles out. Middling elevation, on Forest Service ground. Snow runs over nine feet a winter, with middling precipitation and a yearly average in the low forties.
Yellowjacket Guard Station, about seven miles off, is the closest camp anyone has noted. The best window falls in winter. With nine feet of snow and three miles on foot, that is a committing trip, so find out if Hoodoo Meadows Road opens in winter before you plan around it. No chemistry has been done, so temperature is all you know about the water going in.
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 Snowshoe Johnsons Hot Spring.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 789 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southeast
A slice through the ground from north to south, 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 63% 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.
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...
Snowshoe Johnsons Hot Spring sits at 5,472 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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