Category: hot springs

American Onsen

Karen

After five years of day trips, we spent our first night at Maple Grove Hot Springs. There was a learning curve with the wood stove and I realized I’ve completely forgotten how to travel, but it was a kindly place to start to re-learn.


A steaming stream runs down to the river in the afternoon sun

Morning on the river, with mountains on both sides and frost on all the river grasses

A stone pool with a waterfall, steaming in the winter afternoon

Wood stove in a yurt with the door open to see the fire

Plus, they had wild swans on the river AND a resident cat! (He was so friendly, I got a lot of bonks.)
A woman in a spa robe squats down to pet a gray cat

Maybe I DO Like Saunas After All

Karen

Doc had an unexpected Saturday off so we tried to look on the bright side of not having a pet and went up to the hot springs for most of the day. I didn’t take any pictures IN the springs (too much steam in the cold air) but the river was really showing off in the afternoon light.
Looking north over a flat calm river with mountains on either side. In the foreground the water is covered in green duckweed.

Looking south over an autumnal river valley. The clouds are filtering the light and there are dried weeds in the foreground.

Black mountain silhouetted behind a river, with gold grasses in the foreground getting the light.

 

They’d added a SAUNA since we’d been there last–wood fired, right by the side of the river, and with a huge window looking out over the water (you can barely see it through the door here). And guess what? I DO like saunas when they’re like this and have views and hot water to warm up in after you cool down.
A wooden sauna building on the side of the river. It has a glass door and stairs going into it.

The other thing that I think contributed to my sauna enjoyment? I wore a hat! After our Sauna Public visit when I saw bros wearing beanies in there I did some research. Turns out sauna or banya hats help you stay in the sauna longer by, paradoxically, keeping your head cool (!). When your ears and scalp are protected from the hot, the rest of your body can keep up better. I broke out my favorite wool hiking hat and really could tell the difference.
A woman wearing a neon green wool hat, wrapped in a red towel, sitting at the side of the river.

Special Friday Report: The Cure For Malaise

Karen

Does “taking the waters” like a Victorian invalid cure malaise? It absolutely does. Doc had taken our anniversary off work to make sure he wasn’t scheduled for the night shift in case I wanted to go to dinner, so I took the day off too and we checked out a hot spring 30 minutes away.

Looking south to Utah Lake from the hot spring

 

I’d seen this interactive map of thermal springs in the US earlier in the week and zoomed and clicked around Utah and was kind of shocked how many were along the Wasatch Front that I hadn’t heard of. Many of them don’t get any search results but one did: Saratoga Hot Spring, on the northwest side of Utah Lake.

It’s literally a pond at the end of a walking path, so expect silty water and a dirt bottom, but it was great–there’s development all around and then boom, a hot springs and a lake to the south. We saw a pair of cranes flying and grebes along the shore! The bottom of the spring has one really hot and soft spot that might suck you into the center of the earth!

Because it’s accessible and in a metro area, it’s popular: We were there at 1:30 on a Thursday and there were six other adults and five kids, and two more groups showed up in our hour there. But it’s free and it’s clean–people are obviously fond of it, a couple groups were rubbing the mud on their face and arms–and, again, it’s 30 minutes from the front door.

Looking west from the hot spring to houses and people and the towel rack the city put in

 

I’ll have to remember this cure for spring malaise! Google reviews mention it’s great in the winter, too.