Scenic Hot Springs

Stevens Pass, Chelan County, Washington, États-Unis d'Amérique

Location: Stevens Pass, Chelan County, Washington, États-Unis d'Amérique
Water type: iron-rich
Temperature: 43 °C
pH: 6.3

Water profile

Thermicity

Sedative

43 °C

LowHigh

Relaxing — deep, immediate muscle release.

Mineralisation

Bio-active

LowHigh

Rich in active gases or metals — a strong mineral character.

Buoyancy

Standard buoyancy

LowHigh

Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.

FerBicarbonatesManganèse

Tucked into the Cascade Mountains near Stevens Pass, these springs were reportedly used as early as the 1880s by Great Northern Railway workers building the first rail route over the pass. A lodge called Madison Hot Springs went up in the 1890s to host travelers arriving by train from Seattle, later becoming the Scenic Hot Springs Hotel under owners Prosser and George Murphy. Water was piped nearly a mile and a half down from the mountainside source through wooden pipes.

The site had a turbulent history: rebuilt after a fire, the hotel later housed Great Northern Railway executives during construction of the Cascade Tunnel, before being destroyed in 1929. Hikers kept visiting to camp and soak anyway. In the 1970s a plan to combine a ski lodge with the hot springs was considered and dropped, and today the springs remain a backcountry draw for hikers seeking a forest soak.

Insider tip — Scenic Hot Springs are a pair of hand-built cedar soaking tubs fed by iron-rich geothermal water in the Cascade Range above the former railroad town of Scenic, accessible only by a steep 1.5-mile trail through old-growth fir and hemlock. The springs are managed by permit through a private landowner, keeping crowds minimal and the experience genuinely backcountry. Views from the upper tub look north across the Nason Creek drainage toward the Stuart Range, particularly spectacular after fresh snowfall coats the surrounding peaks.

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