At the springs in this collection, soaking without a swimsuit is accepted practice. Most are natural, undeveloped pools on public land where nude soaking has been the custom for decades. Etiquette matters more than rules here: be respectful of other soakers, ask before taking photos anywhere near the pools, and read each listing before you go, because customs can differ from spring to spring and can change over time.
Molly’s Tubs Hot Springs is a creekside rock pool in the Boise National Forest’s Warm Lake area — and despite the name, the tubs themselves are history. After years of overuse and abuse, the Forest Service dismantled and removed them; in their place are two shallow, seasonal natural pools where the tubs once sat.
Molly’s Toe is a small, hot spring in the Boise National Forest northeast of Cascade, in the Warm Lake area and part of the Molly’s hot springs cluster. Keep expectations calibrated: with a partially collapsed rock wall and a light flow, this one is a foot soak at best — a curiosity on a Molly’s-area springs tour rather than a destination soak.
Molly’s Hot Springs is a log-dam and rock-bordered pool in the Boise National Forest’s Warm Lake area, a quarter-mile from the forest road — the best-known soak of the Molly’s cluster, close enough to the road to stay popular but far enough to feel like a real find. Its temperature is adjustable via a hose-and-valve system fed from the source.
Mile-16 Hot Springs — better known to regulars as Fire Crew (and sometimes Sugah) — is a single rock-mortared pool beside the South Fork Salmon River in the Boise National Forest, northeast of Cascade in the Warm Lake/Yellow Pine area. Not to be confused with the unrelated Fire Crew Hot Springs near Crouch: this one’s nickname comes from the Krassel workstation fire crew that built the soak in 1980–81, and “Mile-16” dates from when the road was unpaved and the spring sat exactly 16 miles down it.
By Golly Molly Hot Springs — also known as Molly’s Trolley — is a pair of well-built rock pools in the Boise National Forest northeast of Cascade, Idaho, in the Warm Lake area and part of the greater Molly’s hot springs cluster. It comes with an honest caveat: despite the solid construction, there has historically been no actual soak here.
Buckhorn Hot Springs is a hard-to-find soak on Buckhorn Creek in the Payette National Forest, in the Warm Lake/Yellow Pine area. A gradually inclined 5-mile hike — gaining more than 1,000 feet on an overgrown old forest road — keeps use low at a meadow- and forest-edged spring with a rock-walled pool and a stand-up hot shower.
Secesh Hot Springs is a chain of rock pools perched high above the Secesh River in the Payette National Forest, in the Warren area northeast of McCall. Reaching them takes a river ford followed by a quarter-mile, near-vertical scramble — and the payoff is some of the softest hot springs water in Idaho, in a place that sees very little use.
Council Mountain Hot Springs — also known as Laurel Hot Springs — is a rock-walled soak in the Payette National Forest near Council, Idaho, reached by a forest trail climbing the side of Council Mountain. The single pool runs about 96–98°F, warming as the season progresses, and sees only moderate use.
Bernard Warm Springs — also known as Smalley — is a long-forgotten warm spring in the Boise National Forest near Cascade, Idaho. Once a full-fledged hot springs resort, its seldom-used pool now sits inside the remnants of the old resort’s foundation, soaking at a mild 98°F.
Weir Creek Hot Springs is a crystal-clear forest soak in the Clearwater National Forest near Lolo, Montana, reached by a short but steep hike from the Highway 12 corridor. Its enlarged main pool runs 105–108°F and holds 8–10 soakers, making it one of the most popular wilderness soaks in North-Central Idaho — expect company, and pack out more than you pack in.
Stuart Hot Springs is a little-known wilderness soak at the edge of a grassy meadow in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, in the Lochsa Ranger District of North-Central Idaho. It is reachable only at the end of a long, arduous, multiday trip involving multiple river fords — one of the most committing hot springs approaches in the state.
Stanley Hot Springs is a chain of rock- and log-dammed pools in the ancient forest of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, more than 20 miles east of Lowell, Idaho — not to be confused with the town of Stanley in the Sawtooths. The pools sit at the end of a grueling 6-mile hike on a rough trail, and the reward is a deep, wide soaker in one of the wildest settings in North-Central Idaho.
Prospector Hot Springs is one of the least-documented soaks in Idaho: a remote hot spring deep in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, in the Lochsa Ranger District of North-Central Idaho. Almost nothing is published about the pools themselves — reaching them is a hard-to-find, multiday backcountry trip in its own right.
Banbury Hot Springs near Buhl, Idaho, is now owned by Miracle Hot Springs and reopened in 2026, offering a large general pool, individual private pools and lodging.
Panther Hot Springs is a primitive hot springs in the Salmon-Challis National Forest near Shoup, Idaho, with small rock-walled dug-out pools and a unique rock sauna at 4,400 feet elevation. The source water can run near boiling, so test the water before entering; pool conditions change with the seasons.
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.
Warm Springs Creek Hot Springs is a barely used wilderness hot spring, the Sitz Bath, in Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, reached by a difficult hike. Access roads are open only from about July to October, spring runoff destroys the lower pools, and the trip is best done as an overnighter with primitive camping nearby.
Shower Bath Hot Springs is a remote wilderness hot springs in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, reached by a trail that follows the Narrows of Warm Springs Creek. Its rock-walled pools vary in size and temperature, and access roads are open only about July to October, leaving a short 2–3 month visiting window each year.
Marten Creek Hot Springs is one of the most remote soaks in Idaho, deep in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho County. Reached only by a multiday backpack with multiple river fords, it is best attempted in mid to late summer.
Jerry Johnson Hot Springs is one of Idaho’s most popular natural hot springs, in the Clearwater National Forest along Highway 12 in North-Central Idaho. Three sources feed rock-walled pools at the end of a short hike; nude soaking is the norm and the site is day-use only, 6 AM to 8 PM.
Twin Springs Resort is a rustic, off-grid hot springs resort on the Middle Fork of the Boise River northeast of Boise, established in 1898. Riverfront cabins from $160 per night each have a private hot tub, with a shared sauna for guests.
Fire Crew Hot Springs is a set of user-built, rock-walled soaking pools on the Middle Fork of the Payette River in the Boise National Forest, north of Crouch, Idaho. The road is snow-covered until about late May, and the pools submerge during spring runoff.
Rocky Canyon Hot Springs is a series of tiered, user-built pools on the far bank of the Middle Fork of the Payette River, north of Crouch, Idaho. Reaching them requires a cold ford of the river; the pools are best after spring runoff.
Little Anderson Hot Springs, near Garden Valley, Idaho, was once a stellar, locally kept soak in the Boise National Forest. Today the pool and primitive sites are heavily damaged by ATV use and trash; visit with low expectations.
