I am a sucker for hot water. Which Hannah thinks is weird because I am almost always too warm. She constantly tells me that she is freezing when we are home and I'm just hanging out in a pair of shorts. But give me a hot shower, a hot tub, or best yet, a hot spring? Crank that temperature right up.
Of course with us moving to Utah, I searched to see if there were any hot springs close by. There are few things more satisfying in life then hiking in to somewhere remote, and being able to soak in deliciously warm water while enjoying nature. I found a few places with information on Fifth Water Hotsprings, located outside of Spanish Fork, Utah up Diamond Fork Canyon. The pictures found on Google seemed promising so we found a day that worked where we could get back late so I could have some prime lighting for pictures and we were off.
On a side note, if you want to head here, don't trust Google navigation on your phone. I tried that and ended up taking a 30 mile, round-trip detour up another canyon. While the drive was beautiful, that was more time we could have had at the hotsprings. Luckily my employer, Intermountain Healthcare, has THIS awesome site with information on hikes. HERE, you can see the simple directions for driving there. Once I got us un-lost, we made it there without any difficulty. The road is paved the entire way to the trailhead and our good trusty baby-blue Camry, Olga, was all that was needed to get there.
I have read that they do close the road in the winter part way up which turns about a 5 mile round trip hike into something more like 13 or so. So make sure you know what you are getting yourself in to.
Once you hit the trailhead, don't take the bridge that is right next to the parking lot. Follow the trail and you will be hiking with the creek on your right hand side the entire time. The scenery is beautiful on the hike up and the trail is not a difficult one. I've seen it listed as a moderate hike on a few sites and I would give it the Goldilocks rating of being "just right", not too hard, but not a paved boring walk either.
As you get closer, you'll start smelling sulfur. This means you are either getting closeish, or you brought Rocky with you and he ate something that didn't agree with him.
The first pools that we saw that looked worth sitting in were decently warm and had the best coloring. I'm not sure what minerals are in them, but especially with the sun going down, the milky blue-green water was amazing!
Higher up, there are two more pools that are great for sitting in. The top-most pool is the hottest and parts of the pool are almost the perfect temperature, and the other parts try to fry your legs off. The inconsistency of the temperature in this top pool was a little annoying as I would find a good spot, and every few minutes I'd either get a really hot spot come burn me up, or a brief chilly minute as more water flowed in from the creek. Plenty hot if you like it super hot.
The second pool down was a bit deeper and had a more consistent temperature. Hannah really liked this one, but if it were just a few degrees warmer I would have been in fat-kid heaven.
We were lucky when we were up there and aside from the two of us and my cousin Stacey who went with us, there was only a max of 3 other people while we soaked. Benefits to going later in the day on a week day.
As you can see, the view alone is well worth the hike, add in some amazing hotsprings and you have one of my most favorite hikes I've done so far. Leave me a comment if you decide to check it out!
Of course with us moving to Utah, I searched to see if there were any hot springs close by. There are few things more satisfying in life then hiking in to somewhere remote, and being able to soak in deliciously warm water while enjoying nature. I found a few places with information on Fifth Water Hotsprings, located outside of Spanish Fork, Utah up Diamond Fork Canyon. The pictures found on Google seemed promising so we found a day that worked where we could get back late so I could have some prime lighting for pictures and we were off.
On a side note, if you want to head here, don't trust Google navigation on your phone. I tried that and ended up taking a 30 mile, round-trip detour up another canyon. While the drive was beautiful, that was more time we could have had at the hotsprings. Luckily my employer, Intermountain Healthcare, has THIS awesome site with information on hikes. HERE, you can see the simple directions for driving there. Once I got us un-lost, we made it there without any difficulty. The road is paved the entire way to the trailhead and our good trusty baby-blue Camry, Olga, was all that was needed to get there.
I have read that they do close the road in the winter part way up which turns about a 5 mile round trip hike into something more like 13 or so. So make sure you know what you are getting yourself in to.
Once you hit the trailhead, don't take the bridge that is right next to the parking lot. Follow the trail and you will be hiking with the creek on your right hand side the entire time. The scenery is beautiful on the hike up and the trail is not a difficult one. I've seen it listed as a moderate hike on a few sites and I would give it the Goldilocks rating of being "just right", not too hard, but not a paved boring walk either.
Constant views like these on the way up alone make it worth it.
As you get closer, you'll start smelling sulfur. This means you are either getting closeish, or you brought Rocky with you and he ate something that didn't agree with him.
The first pools that we saw that looked worth sitting in were decently warm and had the best coloring. I'm not sure what minerals are in them, but especially with the sun going down, the milky blue-green water was amazing!
Higher up, there are two more pools that are great for sitting in. The top-most pool is the hottest and parts of the pool are almost the perfect temperature, and the other parts try to fry your legs off. The inconsistency of the temperature in this top pool was a little annoying as I would find a good spot, and every few minutes I'd either get a really hot spot come burn me up, or a brief chilly minute as more water flowed in from the creek. Plenty hot if you like it super hot.
The second pool down was a bit deeper and had a more consistent temperature. Hannah really liked this one, but if it were just a few degrees warmer I would have been in fat-kid heaven.
The view when sitting in the top pool looking down the canyon
Oh and I forgot to mention, to top it all off, there is a waterfall. Tag me a HUGE sucker for waterfalls.
The couple we met up there looked at me like I was crazy as I was standing in the cold
creek to get this shot. Sometimes, you just have to do it.
As you can see, the view alone is well worth the hike, add in some amazing hotsprings and you have one of my most favorite hikes I've done so far. Leave me a comment if you decide to check it out!
The view from below the lower pools. Something about it being dusk, and the angle of the pools reflecting light
made the bottom two pools super brightly colored. The bottom one is extra milky, green-blue colored.
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