Woodruff 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.
Woodruff Hot Spring, nine miles from Malad City in Oneida County, is hot in name only. The reading on file from May 1972 is tepid, well below body temperature. Chemistry came back near neutral, with magnesium, sodium, calcium, sulfate and chloride present. Neither owner nor access status is recorded, so this is a spring whose legal standing you would have to sort out yourself.
It lies at the roadside, about sixty yards from an unidentified road, at around forty-four hundred feet. Snow is light, about forty-four inches a winter, in a dry climate. Ownership is unlisted, as is any land unit.
Deep winter is what the record recommends. Third Creek Group Site, about eleven miles off, is the only camping the record lists. No burn risk at the measured temperature. Both readings are old, from the early seventies, and access is unrecorded, so ask around in Malad City before driving out.
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 Woodruff Hot Spring.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the south.
- Highest ground nearby
- 172 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the south
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, 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 67% 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 Woodruff Hot Spring is slightly alkaline (pH 7.3). It is notably rich in calcium (may support bone density and joint health), magnesium (known for muscle relaxation and stress relief), and sodium (supports circulation and skin hydration).
Overview Third Creek Group Campground is located just 12 miles northeast of Malad, Idaho, on the Weston Highway near Deep Creek Reservoir. Visitors enjoy exploring the local trail system and fishing at Deep Creek.Recreation Third Creek Trailhead is adjacent to the campground, complete with hitching racks for horses. It accesses the Oxford Peak Trail System and is open to hikers, bikers, motorcyclists and off-road vehicle users as well. Deep Creek Reservoir offers good trout, as well as boati...