Sullivan 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.
A roadside soak outside Challis in Custer County, Sullivan Hot Springs runs a bit above a hundred degrees. Land owner and access status are blank in the record, which matters because a roadside spring with no ownership on file could be private. The water is notably mineral-heavy, with iron on the list.
Dry side of the state, under twenty inches of precipitation, with around ninety inches of snow in a normal winter and an annual average temperature in the low forties. Elevation is about 5,500 feet. A hundred-odd feet separate the water from the road, so walking is not a factor. Who owns the land is not recorded, and no road is named.
The record's best months run December through February. Pole Flat Campground, about fourteen miles off, is the closest camping. The reading dates to November 1983, a USGS sample. Water in the low hundreds is comfortable for most people, but check ownership before going; nothing in the record says this is public.
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 Sullivan Hot Springs.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 342 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the east
A slice through the ground from south to north, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's about 2½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 94% 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 Sullivan Hot Springs is neutral (pH 6.9) with 684 mg/L total dissolved solids.
This campground is away from the main road and up the hill overlooking the river and the dredge ponds. Campsites include picnic tables tent pads fire rings with cooking grills. Campground amenities include a vault toilet and drinking water. Sites accommodate trailers and motorhomes up to 32 feet long.
Sullivan Hot Springs sits at 5,540 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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