Hot springs that bubbles up at a campsite in the Pronghorn Refuge.
You can enjoy both the natural hot spring and the main pool.
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There is information that it is closed due to damage from a forest fire. Please check the latest information from the site before considering a visit.
Natural Hot Spring Pool
The northern edge of the high desert of the Great Basin in southeastern Oregon.
The nearest town is Lakeview, and it is a remote place that requires a two-hour drive from there.
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is a wildlife sanctuary established in 1936, and is home to a herd of pronghorn, which are known as the fastest land animals in North America.
All the roads in the vast nature reserve are unpaved, and I drove through them in a regular car, but in the snowmelt season, the roads can get very rutted.
It is safest to go out in a car with a high load clearance.
The hot springs are at a free campsite.
I crossed the stream on a bridge and went inside.
A primitive campsite where you can use the facilities without a reservation, with nothing special except for parking spaces and a pit toilet.
There are 30 camp sites, and you can stay for up to 14 days.
There are two hot springs with different atmospheres a few dozen meters apart, and the first one I visited was the natural hot spring pool.
At the end of the parking lot there was a car stop made of rocks, and behind it was a wasteland of white precipitated hot spring ingredients.
Stepping further back into the bushes, I found a small pool of hot water.
The entire bottom was shallow and covered with fluffy mud.
The water with a faint sulfur smell gushed directly from the bottom with bubbles, and the water temp was 106 degrees F.
The overflowing hot water became a stream and flowed out into the grass.
Perhaps it is because of its secluded location that this delicate and fragile natural pool has been maintained in a form suitable for soaking.
Main Pool
The other hot spring was located right next to the parking lot.
It was made of solid rock and concrete, surrounded by a windbreak as tall as a child.
Inside were two wooden benches and the pool in which about six people could soak.
The upper part was divided by a concrete rectangle, and the lower part remains a natural rock formation.
Legend has it that a rancher noticed water seeping out of the rocks and dynamited the cracks, creating the original pool.
The deepest part was so deep that even an adult's feet cannot touch the bottom.
Bubbles of hot spring gas were constantly rising in the mysterious bluish water.
Warm water temp, 100 degrees F.
I took a long hot soak, forgetting about time in the overwhelming silence.
Summary
Hart Mountain (Antelope) Hot Springs, Plush, Oregon, U.S.
My rating
Type: Undeveloped, Lodging (campground)
Rule: Clothing optional
Chemical use: No
Water temp: Up to 106 degrees F
