Round the Bend Hot Spring

Round the Bend Hot Spring is exactly what the name says: the steaming cliff face just around the bend from Ninemeyer on the Middle Fork Boise River. It is also, honestly, not a soak in the usual sense — there is no pool here at all. Hot water streaked with bright algae flows down a cliff straight into the river, and the only way to enjoy it is to wade in during late summer, when the river drops to about 3 feet deep, and find the seam where hot meets cold.

Description

A hot-water cliff seep rather than a developed spring: no pool, no dam, nothing built. The experience is standing or sitting in the river at the mixing zone — tricky to dial in, beautiful to look at, and unlike anything else on the corridor.

Seasonal Notes

Late summer is the only practical window, once the river is low enough to wade safely. Most roads into Atlanta close in winter, and the Middle Fork Boise River Road is heavily washboarded year-round.

Camping

Plenty of National Forest campgrounds and primitive sites are available nearby, including Ninemeyer Campground just around the bend.