Weir Hot Springs Still A Wonderful Place to Soak Up The Wild (3/18/2009)

Weir Hot Springs, in Northern Idaho on Highway 12, is a wonderful spot to soak and enjoy the outdoors. - Photo Credit: Web Doodle, LLC

After writing an article about Lolo Hot Springs (Nude Bathing), and reminiscing about Weir, I decided it was time to go back. Winter is usually much less busy, due to the deep snow, but it is my favorite time to enjoy the hot pool.

Weir is about a 2 ½ hour drive from Missoula. You start by heading south on 93, and turning right onto highway 12. It's a beautiful drive any time of year, but in the winter it is also a bit exciting. For a snow covered mountain pass, it gets a lot of traffic, and the road is narrow and full of corners.

Freight trucks, fishermen, skiers and snowmobilers are a constant sight on the road, as well as diligent snowplow drivers. The pass is well maintained year round, but unless you have a 4x4, you might wait until summer.

I hadn't been up to Weir in a while and actually passed it. I vaguely remembered it was near, mile marker 142, but couldn't find it. I even circled back, and couldn't find it a second time.

After stopping on the side of the road too ponder how I missed it, a friendly snowplow driver stopped and asked me if I needed help. I told him I was hoping to hike up to Weir, but was having trouble finding it. He told me that I'd need to park at the parking lot at Mocus Point about a mile east of the Weir trailhead.

I didn't fancy the idea of hiking on that road in the winter. Highway 12 is a narrow strip of road, and in the winter with the snow narrowing it even more, being on foot sounded like a dangerous proposition. I had good hiking clothing though, so I decided to huff it.

The walk was faster than I thought it would be and I even had a nice gentleman stop to make sure I was alright. Its one of the things I really like about the northwest, people still care enough to look in on a stranger.

Upon arriving at the trailhead at noon, I quickly discovered why I missed it. Too my surprise the parking lot was filled with several feet of snow. And the sign marking the trail was barely sticking out of the snow. Once I got up on the snow pack though, I quickly spotted the well traveled trail.

Close up of Weir Hot Pool - Photo Credit: Web Doodle, LLC

The hike from the road to Weir hot springs is about a ½ mile. There are actually two trails, one that follows the creek and one that traverses the side of the valley up hill. Having been up to Weir in the winter before on many occasions, I knew that the trail by the river would be too dangerous due to snow covering some of the rocks you need to scale.

The hike only took me 20 minutes or so, and I was walking pretty slowly. The trail is well worn, but snow, rain and freezing temperatures have made the upper trail nearly as dangerous as the lower trail. Someone who had hiked in earlier in the week had even worn crampons.

To my delight the hot pool was vacant, something I've only witnessed a few times before. Erosion is a constant problem at this elevation, and the geography of the area had changed a bit.

There used to be a tree next to the hot pool, that I always wanted to cut down, because it obscured the view of the stars and moon. The tree, like many others had, at some time since my last trip, succumbed to the elements and was lying in the creek. Had I known this, I probably would have come up at night to enjoy the stars.

Apparently the pool had been damaged as well, as the east facing side of the pool had been re-mortared, and had two drain plugs instead of one. The drain plug that used to be there was commonly used to take showers and to clean the pool.

The pool regularly fills up with algae, and needs to be scrubbed and drained. The water flow is pretty quick though, and the pool will fill up again in 10 minutes or so. If you're going up, remember to take a good scrub brush, because the pool isn't "maintained" by anyone other than the people who enjoy it.

About the time I arrived, it started to snow, and it kept snowing for several hours afterwards. This is really a boon though, because the water is just hot enough that I usually need to soak/cool in regular intervals. In the summer this means jumping out of the hot pool, and streaking down to the creek which is 50 yards downhill on some rather sharp and slippery rocks. The snow fall allowed me to just pop out of the water occasionally and let it cool me down.

There are several places to camp, only one somewhat close to the pool. I was disappointed to see that they were trashed. Garbage, clothing and 2 folding chars had been left at the camp spot closest to the road. Like all places wild, if you pack it in, PLEASE pack it out.

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