Hot springs in Washington open to the public

As of October 2026, six places in Washington openly let the public soak in natural hot spring water: Goldmyer and Scenic hot springs in the King County Cascades, Sol Duc and Olympic hot springs in Olympic National Park, and the Carson and Bonneville resorts in the Columbia River Gorge. Only Sol Duc and the two Gorge resorts let you drive to the door, and Sol Duc closes for the winter, in 2026 at noon on November 1. From Enumclaw the nearest is Goldmyer: about 54 road miles to the trailhead, then a walk of 4.5 to 5 miles.

The hot spring closest to Enumclaw is not on that list. It rises beside the Green River about 21 miles due east of downtown, at up to 50°C (122°F) in the state's data, and in 1901 the hotel beside it called itself "the most perfect Resort and Sanitarium in the West." It now sits inside Tacoma's drinking-water watershed, and the state's springs database still carries a note it credits to a 1960 state inventory: "Visitors banned."

The database, kept by the Washington Geological Survey, lists 329 springs and steam vents. Fifty reach body temperature, 37°C (98.6°F), or more, but seven of those are volcanic steam vents or the Mount St. Helens lava dome, and 22 are springs on Mount St. Helens itself. The rest make a short list, some of it buried, flooded or behind a gate.

1. Goldmyer Hot Springs, the closest legal soak to Enumclaw

Goldmyer is a 20-acre preserve in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie valley, owned by Northwest Wilderness Programs, a nonprofit the Morrow family formed in 1976. The water leaves a cave at about 125°F (52°C) and cools to about 104°F (40°C) in the lowest pool. The Dingford Creek Trailhead is about 54 road miles from Enumclaw by way of North Bend, the last stretch on rough Forest Road 56. From the locked gate there it is 4.5 miles on foot or by bicycle, according to Goldmyer's directions, or 5 by its access report. That report, dated October 7, 2026, calls for all-wheel or four-wheel drive with 8 to 9 inches of clearance, and a Forest Service alert of June 30, 2026, lists a washout at milepost 17.3 on a road Goldmyer still calls open to high-clearance vehicles.

Only 20 people a day get in, and a permit is the only guarantee: current-month dates are booked by phone at least two business days ahead, later ones through a monthly lottery. Walk-ins pay in exact cash if there is room. A shared-use day, Wednesday to Monday, costs $30 for adults, $25 for those 65 and older and nothing for children, by Goldmyer's visitor pages; Tuesdays go to single groups of up to 8 at $240 a time slot. The preserve is open every day of the year and swimsuit-optional; dogs and glass are banned on the property, and cameras at the pools. Goldmyer tells visitors to display a Northwest Forest Pass or an interagency America the Beautiful pass at the trailhead, while the Forest Service's page for Dingford Creek says no fee is required, so ask the North Bend ranger station, (425) 888-1421.

2. Scenic Hot Springs, by reservation only

Scenic is private, and its owner turns away anyone without a reservation. The trailhead is about 10 miles east of Skykomish, roughly 100 road miles from Enumclaw, and the pools sit 2 miles up a trail that gains 1,100 feet. A shared visit costs $30 to $35 a person by season, and booking the springs for a private group $300 to $450. Visits are daylight only, a county rule by the owner's account; dogs and children under 6 are not allowed, and clothing is optional. The hotter of its two springs, Lobster, flows at 48 to 50°C (118 to 122°F). By the owner's history, King County forced a closure in 2001, citing health and safety violations, and Scenic's two stone pools were rebuilt in 2024 and 2025. From December to April the owner requires snow gear and uses a different parking area.

3. Sol Duc Hot Springs, pools by the session

Sol Duc, about 173 road miles from Enumclaw, is a resort inside Olympic National Park, run by the concessioner Aramark, with three mineral pools at roughly 99 to 104°F and a freshwater pool. The springs that feed them reach 56°C (133°F) in the state's data, the hottest of the six. The 2026 season opened March 20 and closes at noon on November 1; the resort's site posts each season's dates. Day visitors buy 90-minute sessions, six a day in fall from 8 a.m.: $19 for ages 12 and up, $15 for children 4 to 11, seniors 62 and older, disabled visitors and military, or $50 for three sessions in a row. The park's entrance fee comes on top, $30 a vehicle for seven days, and the park takes no cash.

4. Olympic Hot Springs, the long walk in

Olympic Hot Springs has no resort, no day-use fee beyond the park entrance pass and, for now, no road. Washouts have closed Olympic Hot Springs Road to vehicles at the Madison Falls parking area, about 143 road miles from Enumclaw. From there the Park Service's Boulder Creek Trail page counts 7.9 miles, on the closed road and a temporary trail around the washout, to the Boulder Creek Trailhead, then 2.5 miles to the springs: about 21 miles round trip. Cyclists may use the closed road too. The pools sit along Boulder Creek, fed by springs the state's data puts as hot as 52°C (126°F).

The Park Service does not monitor the water and says it may hold high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. Its trail page adds: "Bathe at your own risk. Nudity is common." Campfires are banned at the springs, food goes in bear canisters, and an overnight stay needs a wilderness permit.

5. Carson and Bonneville hot springs, in the Columbia Gorge

The two Skamania County resorts near the Columbia River are the only places on this list you can drive to and soak in on a January afternoon. Carson Hot Springs Resort, about 203 road miles from Enumclaw, says its hotel was completed in 1901. Its bathhouse still fills clawfoot tubs with mineral water for a soak and a linen wrap, and a chlorinated mineral pool at about 104°F takes visitors in swimsuits at $19 an hour by its spa page, though its FAQ gives $12 to $17 plus tax, depending on the day. No one under 18 may use the bathhouse or soaking tubs.

Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa in North Bonneville, about 193 road miles away, is open again to guests and the public, with one- and two-hour passes to its mineral-fed indoor pools and hot tub from noon to 7 p.m. daily; its pages give no pass price. Its spring is the coolest of the six, 36°C (97°F) at most in the state's data, and the resort lists its indoor pools and hot tub at 86°F.

Is there a hot spring near Enumclaw?

There is, and you cannot go. The state's database files it as Lester Hot Springs, with Green River Hot Springs among its other names. It lies a few miles west of Lester, the railroad town whose school district was folded into Enumclaw's. The University of Washington's library gives the outline: the Northern Pacific opened a station there called Kendon in 1886, a hotel and bathhouse followed in 1888, and the Washington Hot Springs Company bought them in 1892. The settlement became Hot Springs. Guests came by train, on a main line that ran through Enumclaw until the railroad built a cutoff through Palmer and left the town on a branch.

By 1901 a physician, J. S. Kloeber, was running the Green River Hot Springs Hotel and Sanitarium. Its advertisement that year promised steam heat, electric light, a full string orchestra, bowling alleys, a tennis court and two trains a day each way, 63 miles from Tacoma and Seattle. It put the springs at 132°F, ten degrees above the top reading in the state's database. One testimonial, dated June 11, 1901, came from the Seattle chambers of C. H. Hanford, then the federal judge for the District of Washington: the springs were "certain to become a famous resort." The hotel burned in 1911, by the UW library's account; a Black Diamond History blog column says it burned soon after Kloeber sold his interest in August 1910.

Green River water has reached Tacoma's taps since 1913, by a route this site's story on the Tacoma pipeline traces, and Tacoma Public Utilities says gates and guards limit public access to the watershed. Its 2008 watershed plan, still posted, says that from the intake up to the Friday Creek gate, access "is not provided for recreational purposes." The springs lie inside that stretch. Nothing warm lies closer: the namesake of Flaming Geyser State Park, which kept its name as the fire died down, a Discover Pass park five miles from downtown, is a 1911 coal test hole that hit methane and salty water, State Parks says. The state's database puts its water at 13°C (55°F).

Can you soak in the hot springs at Mount Rainier?

No, but you can look at them. Ohanapecosh, in the park's southeast corner, is about 54 road miles from Enumclaw by SR 410 and SR 123, a drive the Park Service says is open typically from May to early November. A resort grew around its springs in the early 1900s, the park says; campers outside it paid 25 cents a day to use the pools, and the place fell into disrepair in the 1950s, closed in 1960 and lost its buildings. The springs, 50°C (122°F) at most in the state's data, were restored to a natural state, and a park history gives the rule: "bathing is no longer allowed (or even possible due to the small size of the springs)." Park rules keep walkers on the trail there.

The 0.4-mile Hot Springs Nature Trail starts behind the visitor center. In 2026 its trailhead is closed for a campground rebuild that runs through November, and the park says the trail can be reached by the Silver Falls Trail. The entrance fee is $30 a vehicle for seven days, cards only.

Longmire, in the park's southwest corner, has mineral springs, not hot ones, no warmer than about 26°C (79°F) in the state's data. The family of the James Longmire who helped lead the 1853 wagon train over Naches Pass built a resort beside them, and the 0.7-mile Trail of the Shadows passes them all year.

What happened to Kennedy Hot Springs?

The 2003 flood buried it under five feet of material from Glacier Peak, the Forest Service says, and destroyed the White Chuck River Trail, which the agency has no plans to repair. Many lists also carry Baker Hot Springs near Mount Baker, a spring the state's survey recorded at 44°C (111°F). The Forest Service has no page for it, and its status could not be confirmed.

Before you go

Prices, hours and seasons here are as of October 2026, so check again the day before. Goldmyer updates its access report at least every Wednesday evening; Olympic National Park posts road status online and on a recorded line, (360) 565-3131; Mount Rainier's Ohanapecosh page lists the construction closures; Scenic and the resorts post rates that change by season. Pack your own water: none of the three backcountry springs provides safe drinking water.