Soak Trail has mapped 686 natural hot springs across 8 western US states. Idaho leads with 420 springs, followed by Montana (70) and Oregon (68). Of those, 465 are in the ideal soaking range of 95–110°F. This page breaks down the counts by state and region, with data sourced from USGS and OpenStreetMap.
Researched & maintained by Chester Beard · Conservation Photographer · Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy
Data from USGS, OpenStreetMap, NOAA · Disclosure
Mapped hot springs
515
across 11 U.S. states · Alaska still being added
On this page, "mapped" means a spring that exists in Soak Trail's locator database with a verified location and basic attributes — name, coordinates, access type, and development level. It is a deliberate, quality-controlled subset of the country's thermal springs, not a survey of every one.
NOAA's Thermal Springs dataset documents roughly 1,661 hot springs nationwide, including thousands of undeveloped or poorly documented sites across states we haven't yet mapped. Those two numbers answer different questions: NOAA's is "how many springs have ever been recorded," while ours is "how many have we verified and put on a map." We're working toward fuller national coverage; the total below is what we've verified so far.
| Region | States | Entries |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Rockies | Idaho, Montana, Wyoming | 261 |
| Desert | Arizona, Nevada, Utah | 92 |
| Shasta Region | Northern California, Southern Oregon | 64 |
| Washington | Washington | 46 |
| Colorado | Colorado | 37 |
| New Mexico | New Mexico | 10 |
| Alaska | Alaska | in progress |
| Total | 11 states (Alaska excluded) | 515 |
Highest count first. Click a column header to sort. (Washington's regional database also mirrors Oregon's 34 springs; the state of Washington itself has 12.)
| # | State ↕ | Springs ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Idaho ID | 211 |
| 2 | Nevada NV | 39 |
| 3 | Colorado CO | 37 |
| 4 | Montana MT | 35 |
| 5 | Oregon OR | 34 |
| 6 | Arizona AZ | 32 |
| 7 | California CA | 30 |
| 8 | Utah UT | 21 |
| 9 | Wyoming WY | 15 |
| 10 | Washington WA | 12 |
| 11 | New Mexico NM | 10 |
| — | Alaska AK | in progress |
| Unique springs: 515 (excluding Alaska) | ||
Alaska is still being seeded in the locator, so we aren't publishing a count for it yet — any number we printed now would understate one of the country's most geothermal states. It's listed as in progress rather than omitted, and its springs will roll into this table as they're verified. In the meantime, treat every total on this page as "what Soak Trail has mapped so far," not "every hot spring that exists."
The ranking mirrors U.S. geothermal geology. The states at the top sit on the volcanic belts and fault lines that produce hot water in the first place: Idaho's Snake River Plain and the Yellowstone hotspot margin, Nevada and Utah's Basin and Range province, Colorado's Rio Grande Rift, and Oregon and California's Cascade arc. That's why the American West dominates the list — and why a handful of states account for the large majority of mapped springs rather than an even spread across the country. For the geology behind each region, see how to find hot springs.
Idaho leads with 211 mapped springs, well ahead of Nevada (39) and Colorado (37). Idaho's Snake River Plain and the margin of the Yellowstone hotspot produce an unusually dense concentration of thermal water.
NOAA's Thermal Springs dataset records roughly 1,661 hot springs nationwide. Soak Trail has verified and mapped 515 of them so far (515 unique springs across 11 states). The gap is coverage, not a disagreement — most of NOAA's records are undeveloped or sit in states we haven't reached yet.
We only publish a count for a state once its springs have actually been verified and mapped in the locator, so we never print a number we can't stand behind. Alaska is in progress and will be added next; additional states roll in as coverage expands toward nationwide.
Suggested citation: Soak Trail. "How Many Hot Springs Are in Each State?" Accessed September 2026. https://soaktrail.com/hot-springs-by-state
This page is refreshed as the locator grows. The snapshot date in the methodology box above is the version you're citing — link back to this URL so readers always land on the current numbers.
Want to see these springs on a map? Open the locator, or start with how to find hot springs to cross-check any spring against public-land access before you go.