Little Warm Springs
Up in Blaine County in the north of Montana, Little Warm Springs rises on the Fort Belknap Reservation about thirty-four miles from Fort Belknap Agency. The water is tepid. What stands out is the mineral load: a 1973 sample measured a heavy dose of dissolved solids, with sodium, sulfate, chloride and calcium all present. Tribal land, access unrecorded.
By Montana standards the elevation is low, prairie country. A couple hundred yards of walking brings you in, starting at a road with no recorded name. Snow through the winter is moderate and the year leans dry. The ground all around belongs to the Fort Belknap Reservation.
Camp Creek Campground is about six miles away. Winter reads as the best stretch, and since snowfall stays moderate a cold season visit is not out of the question. No one has confirmed that outsiders may use the spring, so ask the tribe. Temperature and chemistry both come from a 1973 survey and could be out of date.
USGS hasn't flown a detailed laser scan here yet, so this view comes from aerial photos and older elevation data.
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 west.
- Highest ground nearby
- 179 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the west
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 close to the US average of 65. It's higher than at 7% 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 Little Warm Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 7.9) with 1550 mg/L total dissolved solids. It is notably rich in calcium (may support bone density and joint health), magnesium (known for muscle relaxation and stress relief), and sulfate (traditionally used for skin conditions and inflammation).
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Camp Creek Recreation Area, located in the scenic Little Rockies, consists of Camp Creek Campground, Horse Corral Campground, and Buffington Day Use Area. A system of trails leads from the main campground, making this a popular destination for hikers, birders and OHV enthusiasts. Several small bass and trout fisheries are located within 30-minutes drives. The nearby town of Zortman offers a store, restaurant, fuel, and gold panning opportunities. This is a Watchable Wildlife area as well as a...
Little Warm Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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