This collection gathers Idaho hot springs on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management: open high desert and canyon country where soaking is free, facilities are few, and the sky does most of the decorating. It currently features Skinnydipper Hot Springs. BLM springs are shared public treasures with no on site management, so what keeps them open is visitors packing out trash, respecting closures, and leaving no trace.
Hot Springs Landing — also called Magic Valley — is a reservoir-side soak in the Fairfield area, on BLM land where the spring’s source itself sits on private land. Most of the year there’s nothing to soak in: the pool site lies under the reservoir’s water until late fall, when dropping levels expose a wood-framed, tarp-lined pool a few yards downstream of the source, big enough for two to four soakers.
Sharkey Hot Springs is a BLM-managed soaking site just off Highway 93 near Baker, south of Salmon, Idaho, with two deep concrete pools, changing rooms, and picnic facilities. Visitors aged 16 and older need a Sharkey Hot Springs Pass from Recreation.gov.
Goldbug Hot Springs is a hike-in natural hot springs in the Salmon-Challis National Forest south of Salmon, Idaho, reached by a roughly 2-mile trail with a steep final half-mile. Rock-walled pools and hot waterfalls line the creek at about 6,200 feet elevation.
Skinnydipper Hot Springs is a natural hot springs above the Banks-Lowman Highway in the Boise National Forest, reached by a steep 0.5-mile hike. It is closed to all use under a BLM closure order extended through February 2027.
