Kitson Hot Springs
The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Kitson Hot Springs is an open-access hot spring on the Willamette National Forest in Lane County, Oregon, about six miles from Oakridge. The water comes out at the warm end of hot, a temperature most people can sit in. Forest Service land, right beside a forest road, and close enough to town that it does not call for a long day.
Forest Road 23 passes within about sixty feet. Low elevation on the wet side of the state, with heavy rain and a lot of winter snow for the altitude. Packard Creek campground is three miles away and is the one the record pairs with the spring.
Winter shows up as the best season here; that much snow makes the road the thing to check. Water is comfortable for soaking. Camping at Packard Creek is close. No fee is recorded and no water chemistry either. There is no USGS site number, so the temperature comes from another source in the record.
USGS hasn't flown a detailed laser scan here yet, so this view comes from aerial photos and older elevation data.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the northeast.
- Highest ground nearby
- 707 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northeast
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 about 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 19% 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.
Overview Packard Creek is a popular campground on the western side of Hills Creek Reservoir. The family-friendly destination offers a picturesque setting among tall trees, with views of the lake beyond. Most of the campground is accessible.Recreation Larison Creek Trail is excellent for mountain biking, horseback riding and hiking. It meanders along Larison Cove and Larison Creek, through lush vegetation of hemlock, Douglas fir and red cedar. Visitors also enjoy boating, swimming and fishin...
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