Researched & maintained by Chester Beard
Soak Trail is an independent research project documenting natural hot springs across the American West. It grew from years of road trips through the region's back roads and mountain passes — stopping at hot springs along the way and noticing how hard it was to find reliable, current information about where to soak.
Chester Beard is a conservation photographer and outdoors explorer based in the Pacific Northwest. He has worked as a photographer for The Nature Conservancy and served on the Washington State Executive Council of the Sierra Club. That background in conservation and field work shaped Soak Trail's approach: combine public data sources with field verification to produce accurate, accessible guides for natural hot springs.
Years of road trips through the western US — from Idaho's backcountry to Oregon's Cascades to Colorado's high country — revealed a gap: no single source combined USGS water quality data, OpenStreetMap geographic data, and real access conditions into one place. Soak Trail fills that gap.
Each spring in the Soak Trail network has been researched using multiple data sources including:
Soak Trail may earn affiliate commissions from gear recommendations and booking links. This does not affect editorial content or spring ratings. All spring data is independently researched and verified. Sponsored content, if any, will be clearly labeled.
Hot springs conditions change. Always verify access, temperature, and fees before visiting. Natural hot springs can be dangerous — follow leave-no-trace principles and respect private property.