Millpond Hot Spring
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
A warm seep on the edge of Hines in Harney County, Millpond Hot Spring carries a bigger name than its temperature earns. The water is tepid, bath-cool, nowhere near hot despite what the map label says. It is recorded as a USGS thermal site and sits about a mile from town. Who owns the ground, and if the public may walk onto it, is not on file.
Hines sits in Oregon's high desert basin country, over four thousand feet up with dry air and cold winters. The spring is a roadside point, roughly a hundred yards from the nearest road, so there is no approach to speak of. Snow is moderate here and rain is scarce, a little over a foot a year. No road name or land manager is listed for it.
Winter months rank best in the record. With water this cool, timing hardly changes the soak. Both the landowner and the access status are blank; confirm them before walking in. Idlewild is the closest campground listed, nearly nineteen miles away. No fee is recorded.
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 Millpond Hot Spring.
- Setting
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the northwest.
- Highest ground nearby
- 122 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 9% 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 Idlewild Campground is the perfect place for large gatherings in any weather. In sun, rain or snow, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the outdoors while spending time with friends and family. The campground is situated along Highway 395 north of Burns, Oregon. In the summer, it is popular with hikers and mountain bikers. In the winter, visitors can snowmobile and cross-country ski.Recreation Idlewild offers opportunities for camping, picnicking, hiking and mountain biking. Devine Su...
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