Antelope Hot Springs
Out on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in Lake County, Oregon, Antelope Hot Springs comes up at a temperature most people would call a proper soak, warm without any sting. It sits on Fish and Wildlife Service land roughly forty miles from Lakeview. Access shows as restricted in the record, which is a thing to settle with the refuge before you drive out.
Barely a walk from where you park. The refuge is high desert, dry most of the year, with modest snow in winter. Wikipedia describes the site as semi-improved and set up for camping, with a pool about five feet deep and roughly nine by twelve feet across.
Winter months come up as the best window on file, and in a climate this dry that is workable. The restricted access flag is the thing to check first. Water chemistry was sampled in 2021, so the pH reading is recent. No campground appears in the record, though Wikipedia calls the spot suitable for camping, and there is no fee noted either way.
Wikipedia also calls it Hart Mountain Hot Springs, after the refuge. By that account it is twelve miles northeast of the community of Plush, a drive of about twenty-eight miles. The USGS lists it as a thermal monitoring site as well.
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 Antelope 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
- Valley floor
- Gentle slopes rise on both sides.
- Highest ground nearby
- 92 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
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 Antelope Hot Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 7.4).
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Antelope Hot Springs sits at 5,955 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.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Antelope Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Springs Near Antelope Hot Springs
More Springs Around 104°F
Slightly Alkaline Springs (pH ~7.4)
Hike 1 waterfall near Antelope Hot Springs
Looking for more outdoor adventures? Explore waterfall hikes near Antelope Hot Springs, Oregon.