Twin 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.
Twin Springs is a scalding source on North Fork Boise River Road in Boise National Forest, about thirteen miles from Idaho City. The water comes out hot enough to burn skin on contact, so this is a thermal feature to look at, and to enter only in spots where the heat has drained out of it. Access is listed as open. Low dissolved solids and a high pH characterize the sample on file.
The road passes essentially on top of the spring, nine feet away by the measurement on file, and the walk is a matter of a few steps. This is Forest Service land at around thirty-four hundred feet. Snowfall is moderate, about seventy-five inches, in a fairly dry climate.
The record's pick for timing is the dead of winter. Ninemeyer Campground is about nine miles off. Since the spring sits on the road shoulder, no walking is involved. The water leaves the ground scalding. Do not step in anywhere you have not tested, and keep children and dogs back from the outflow. The figures come from a May 1981 survey.
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 Twin Springs.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 477 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
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 Twin Springs is alkaline (pH 9.5) with 217 mg/L total dissolved solids.
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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...
Twin Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully.
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