Potosi Hot Springs
Beside Willow Meadow Road in Madison County, Montana, Potosi Hot Springs comes up hot, past comfortable soaking temperature at the source. Virginia City is about twenty miles away. A USGS sample from January 1977 found it alkaline with iron. Neither the landowner nor the access status is on record, so plan on asking.
Fairly high country, with a wet year and a solid snowpack, around sixty-five inches in a normal winter. The spring is roadside, under sixty feet from Willow Meadow Road. No land unit appears on the record, and no designation either, which leaves the question of who you would ask.
Hot water, so test before you get in. Camping: Red Mountain, about sixteen miles away. Winter is the season on record, and the snow is on the heavy side, so a midwinter drive up Willow Meadow Road is not something to assume. The reading is from 1977. Access unknown.
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 Potosi 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 west.
- Highest ground nearby
- 510 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 15% 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 Potosi Hot Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 8.3).
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Overview The Dillon Field Office is unable to make reservations for you. Please call Recreation.gov (877-444-6777) to book a reservation or book online. Campsites are available for reservation for the Peak-Season times of May 1st through September 15th. From September 16th through April 30th, all sites are first-come-first-serve. Red Mountain Campground is adjacent to the lower Madison River and provides good access for camping, fishing and floating. The campground has 19 camp sites, 11 ava...
Potosi Hot Springs sits at 6,069 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 24% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Potosi 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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