Spring Break
Get your hot springs on
Options for hot springs soaks throughout Oregon
Brian Beadle
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Diversions
On my newest adventure, I hit highway 26 toward Cougar Hot Springs.
The hot springs are about a quarter mile away from Cougar reservoir. It's $5 to get in, but I didn't sweat the fee … too much. Upon arrival, I looked down at the pools. There were four main ones - all on a hillside.
The rock-ringed soak spots were tiered, and descended single file, each slowly flowing into the next. There were many occupants I saw and … holy naked hippies Batman! Bellies as big as quarter kegs and too much body hair for anybody's good called out from the first pool.
As Murphy's Law would have it the crowded pools - the uppermost ones that is, featured the most ideal temperatures. I joined the co-ed cast of mostly unshapely, friendly folks, thinking about all the other ways I could have spent my $5.
I don't usually consider myself prudish - but the bare aesthetics were awkward with a capital A. To be fair though, not everybody was naked and/or engaging in stereotypical hippie rhetoric - talk of weed and bad jam bands for example.
Do I recommend Cougar Hot Springs? Yes, but not on a sunny weekend. Check it out during the week or better yet while Phish is playing nearby Eugene. Also of note: The trail to the hot springs passes a quite enticing swimming hole complete with a waterfall. A combined thermal soak and swim would make for a great summer excursion.
When it comes to hot springs, it depends on what you want and what you're willing to pay. I only chill in the natural ones, but a handful of tapped thermal areas abound in Oregon and Washington.
Breitenbush Resort, located on the Santiam Pass, and Carson Hot Springs Resort, on the Washington side of the Gorge, both come well-recommended, have cheap options and offer thermal fixes for those insisting on privacy or luxury.
Bagby Hot Springs offers its soothing waters in a natural setting with rustic development. Bagby, located southeast of Estacada, reclines snuggled in an old 1930s camp accessible by a mile and a half hike in.
Rustic piping systems here use gravity to usher smoking hot mineral water into old wooden tubs fashioned from massive felled trees. A cold water counter system and other crude pieces of wood-crafted engineering mix the water like a skilled bartender.
Bagby, despite drawing crowds, counters the bathing/birthday suit in part by having many private soaking options. These walled-off tubs are popular with sweethearts, are free, and are first come first serve.
At least a couple dozen additional hot springs grace Oregon and Washington. If you're interested in a truly unique outdoors experience, I can't recommend enough lacing up your boots, dawning your swimsuit - or not - and taking advantage of the geothermal goodness the Northwest has to offer.
Brian Beadle
diversions@dailybarometer.com
The hot springs are about a quarter mile away from Cougar reservoir. It's $5 to get in, but I didn't sweat the fee … too much. Upon arrival, I looked down at the pools. There were four main ones - all on a hillside.
The rock-ringed soak spots were tiered, and descended single file, each slowly flowing into the next. There were many occupants I saw and … holy naked hippies Batman! Bellies as big as quarter kegs and too much body hair for anybody's good called out from the first pool.
As Murphy's Law would have it the crowded pools - the uppermost ones that is, featured the most ideal temperatures. I joined the co-ed cast of mostly unshapely, friendly folks, thinking about all the other ways I could have spent my $5.
I don't usually consider myself prudish - but the bare aesthetics were awkward with a capital A. To be fair though, not everybody was naked and/or engaging in stereotypical hippie rhetoric - talk of weed and bad jam bands for example.
Do I recommend Cougar Hot Springs? Yes, but not on a sunny weekend. Check it out during the week or better yet while Phish is playing nearby Eugene. Also of note: The trail to the hot springs passes a quite enticing swimming hole complete with a waterfall. A combined thermal soak and swim would make for a great summer excursion.
When it comes to hot springs, it depends on what you want and what you're willing to pay. I only chill in the natural ones, but a handful of tapped thermal areas abound in Oregon and Washington.
Breitenbush Resort, located on the Santiam Pass, and Carson Hot Springs Resort, on the Washington side of the Gorge, both come well-recommended, have cheap options and offer thermal fixes for those insisting on privacy or luxury.
Bagby Hot Springs offers its soothing waters in a natural setting with rustic development. Bagby, located southeast of Estacada, reclines snuggled in an old 1930s camp accessible by a mile and a half hike in.
Rustic piping systems here use gravity to usher smoking hot mineral water into old wooden tubs fashioned from massive felled trees. A cold water counter system and other crude pieces of wood-crafted engineering mix the water like a skilled bartender.
Bagby, despite drawing crowds, counters the bathing/birthday suit in part by having many private soaking options. These walled-off tubs are popular with sweethearts, are free, and are first come first serve.
At least a couple dozen additional hot springs grace Oregon and Washington. If you're interested in a truly unique outdoors experience, I can't recommend enough lacing up your boots, dawning your swimsuit - or not - and taking advantage of the geothermal goodness the Northwest has to offer.
Brian Beadle
diversions@dailybarometer.com
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