A hot spring pool owned and operated by the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans.
The geothermal water was sprayed out in a shower-like fashion.
Time Stands Still
U.S. Route 95, a major north-south highway in Idaho.
Zims Hot Springs is located near the town of New Meadows, where Route 95 connects with State Route 50 and bends.
It is a hot spring pool with RV parks and campgrounds, and it also actively accepts day visitors.
The reception was in a building of the recreation hall.
Inside the wooden building with its impressive heavy ceiling, there were old table tennis tables and arcade game machines lined up.
The changing rooms were in a corner of the recreation hall, and it seemed like they had been added on later.
Back to the Indigenous People Again
This facility is owned and operated by the Native American Nez Perce tribe, but it was only recently, in 2019, that the tribe purchased it.
The Nez Perce tribe is known as a hunting people who settled in the highlands of the Colombian plateau, and were forcibly relocated to several Indian reservations under the unequal treaties.
In the past, they lived in a wider area, and although Zims Hot Springs is outside the reservation, after a long time it has returned to the indigenous people.
The Nez Perce, the tribe with a certain amount of power in the region both commercially and politically, purchased this dilapidated facility because it was of great historical, cultural and spiritual significance.
It is said that the hot water was used to make bows from the horns of bighorn sheep.
Well, the soaking area was all outdoors and there were three pools, but the pool on the north side looked like it hadn't been used for many years.
The other two pools have different temperature settings, with the larger one being a swimming pool with a temperature of around 92 degrees F.
The smaller pool was at a comfortable temperature of around 102 degrees F.
Other than being poured into the bottom of the pool, the thermal water was sprayed out in a shower-like fashion for the purpose of natural cooling.
I didn't notice the use of chlorine-based chemicals.
May this hot spring pool prosper along with the tribe.
Sumary
Zims Hot Springs, New Meadows, Idaho, U.S.
My rating
Type: Walk-in, Lodging (RV Park)
Rule: Clothing required
Chemical use: Not detected
Water temp: Up to 108 degrees F
