For journalists

Press and media

Writing about hot springs, winter trips or wildfire in the West? Everything here is free to use with a credit. If you need a number we don't show, ask and we'll pull it.

The numbers

  • 1,605 thermal springs across the 12 western states, on NOAA's Thermal Springs List (1,661 across the whole US).
  • About 300 of them are places the public can soak (306 exactly, 19%): resorts, town pools, and natural springs on public land or where the owner welcomes visitors.
  • Nevada has the most thermal springs (312). Idaho has the most places to soak (80).
  • 106 of the 306 (35%) are free.
  • 158 of the 214 we've rated can be reached in a normal winter.
  • 97 had a 2026 wildfire within 15 miles.

State by state, with every number in a table: Hot springs by state. Figures are rebuilt from our data every morning; this page was last updated 10 Nov 2026.

Stories we can help with

  • Your state or city. We have local guides for 118 towns, with the closest soaks, drive times and which are free. Try hot springs by town.
  • Winter. Which springs you can still reach, which get snowed in, and the desert springs that are best in winter: winter hot springs.
  • Closures and wildfire. We check every spring each morning against Forest Service closures, wildfire perimeters and National Weather Service warnings: closures today and the 2026 fire season recap.
  • The NOAA list. NOAA retired its Thermal Springs List and map on 5 May 2025. We host all 1,661 records again, with a map and downloads: NOAA Thermal Springs List.

Maps, charts and data

  • Map of every US thermal spring (SVG, scales to any size). Free to publish with a credit.
  • The state study has a chart and a full table you can copy.
  • Free data downloads: every spring we list as CSV, JSON or GeoJSON, updated daily, CC BY 4.0.
  • Need a chart for one state, or a different size or format? Email us and we'll make it.

Photos

We don't own most of the photos on the site. Each one has its own license and photographer, listed under the photo and on our credits page. Please check the license and credit the photographer, not us.

How we count

  • We only list springs where the public can legally soak: resorts, pools, and natural springs on public land, plus private springs only where the owner welcomes visitors. What we list and why.
  • "No closures reported" means none of the feeds we check shows a problem. It is not a promise that a spring is open, so please don't describe a spring as open on our say-so.
  • Thermal spring counts come from NOAA's list (Berry and others, 1980), which is a science list and includes springs that were never soakable.
  • More detail: how we check and the "How we counted" section of the state study.

How to credit us

Please name Hot Springs West and link to hotspringswest.com, or to the page you used. For example:

Source: <a href="https://hotspringswest.com/hot-springs-by-state/">Hot Springs West</a>

Contact

Email hello@hotspringswest.com. We can answer questions, check a spring for you or pull numbers for your area.

Hot Springs West is an independent guide covering 12 western states and 306 springs. We don't take payment for listings, and booking commissions never affect what we list.