Stanley Hot Spring
Stanley Hot Spring sits within about seventy feet of the Salmon River Scenic Byway, on Challis National Forest ground in Custer County, about forty miles from Challis, the nearest town on file. Measured hot in 1972, only a notch over comfortable soaking. Open to the public. A picture is on record.
Road access is as easy as it gets, the byway passing close enough that there is no walk worth mentioning. High country, averaging around forty through the year, with a dozen feet of snow and a fair amount of rain the rest of the time. Land belongs to the Forest Service.
Sunny Gulch Campground sits three and a half miles off. Winter is listed as the time to go, and with twelve feet of snow the byway's condition is the first thing to check. The temperature reading is from 1972, so treat it as a rough guide. Alkaline water, sampled the same year.
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 Stanley 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
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the west.
- Highest ground nearby
- 146 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the west
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 90% 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 Stanley Hot Spring is alkaline (pH 8.8).
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Overview Sunny Gulch Campground sits along the shores of Salmon River in the forests of central Idaho. Recreation Excellent fishing is right out your back door on the Salmon River, with rainbow trout, Westslope cutthroat trout and occasional hybrid cutbows and bull trout available. Sunny Gulch lies in the heart of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. A myriad of excellent hiking and biking opportunities are available, and an estimated 750 miles of trails crisscross the valley and surround...
Stanley Hot Spring sits at 6,220 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 25% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Stanley Hot Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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