Chico Hot Springs
Chico Hot Springs is a resort, and has been growing into one since 1900, near Pray in Park County, Montana, some 24 miles from Livingston. The source water is hot, at the top of soakable, and there is iron in it. A USGS sample from 1977 is the chemistry on record. There is a photo. Access class goes unrecorded, as does the land owner; the resort is the thing to contact.
Roadside. The nearest mapped road, Conlin Gulch A, is about forty feet off. Elevation is high valley, in a drainage that gets close to nine feet of snow through the cold months, with moderate precipitation. Mill Creek Cabin, about eight miles away, is the nearest listed overnight option. Wikipedia places it near Pray, a name that does not appear in our own nearest-city field, which has Livingston.
The best months on record fall in winter. As a commercial resort, fees and hours are the resort's to set; our record has none, so check with them. The source temperature is hot enough to need cooling before anyone sits in it.
Wikipedia puts the start of development at 1900, with the natural springs gradually built up into a vacation resort over the decades since. It sits about thirty miles north of Yellowstone National Park.
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 Chico 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.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the southeast.
- Highest ground nearby
- 290 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southeast
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 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 48% 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 Chico Hot Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 7.3).
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Overview Mill Creek Cabin was built in 1927 as a temporary lodging for traveling Forest Service personnel. The cabin can be accessed by vehicle year-round, though a four-wheel drive vehicle is recommended. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety. This cabin offers rustic accommodations with limited amenities, so guests need to bring most of their own supplies and gear for a comfortable stay.Recreation Hikers and equestrians can access trailheads that lead into th...
Chico Hot Springs sits at 5,336 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 21% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Chico Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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