Potosi Warm Springs
Despite the name, Potosi Warm Springs reads hot on the record, hotter than most people want to sit in. It is in Madison County, Montana, twenty-one miles from Virginia City and a short way off Willow Meadow Road. A 1977 USGS sample found alkaline water with iron. No owner is listed, and access is not on file.
High country by road standards, with a wet climate and heavy snow. Getting to the spring means a short walk from Willow Meadow Road, a bit over a hundred yards. Nothing on record says who holds the land, and no land unit or designation appears.
The temperature on file is hot enough to burn with prolonged contact, so ease in. Red Mountain campground is around sixteen miles away. The listed months are December through February. The snowfall is substantial. Access is not confirmed, and the reading is nearly fifty years old. Nobody has recorded a fee or a bathhouse.
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
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 646 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the north
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 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 Warm 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 Warm Springs sits at 6,043 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 Warm 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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