Olympic Hot Springs at Elwha

{Jan 2011-  Note that this was written in September 1998. I corrected some spelling and moved a few sentences around but otherwise left it as it was when posted on the web back then. I'm a little embarrassed about some of the writing. Also while i have been to Elwha more than 25 times (including 3 times i didn't soak), i haven't been there since 2001.}

How do you publicly write about a favorite "secret" place? This is a major conundrum. Elwha is certainly not unknown, but i'd hate for it to become even more popular than it is.

Olympic Hot Springs is one of my favorite places. I always just call it Elwha, which is the name of the road, the river, and the trail, but not the hot springs. When i first moved to Washington i desperately wanted to go there, and after a few failed attempts, i finally got there and loved it. I started a habit of going every couple of months during the fall, winter and spring. I've probably been there 15 times in the last 4 or 5 years. I hate to talk about bests, but i've been to Wind River hot springs near the Columbia, Scenic hot springs in the Cascades and Sol Duc hot springs nearby in the Olypmics. All are nice, but none can come close to matching the splendor and glory of Elwha.

It's hard to describe this magical place deep in the temperate rain forest. The forest itself is magnificent and the walk in to the springs is wonderful. The Hot Springs are a fantastic soak in natural mineral water right in the trees.

The Elwha road entrance to Olympic National Park is a few miles west of Port Angeles. Often during the off season the ticket booth is not opened. It's about 15 miles up the Elwha road from Highway 101 to the Glins Canyon Dam. At this point the road makes a sharp turn into the forest, and there is a big overlook above the dam. Low snow levels in the winter cause the road to be closed above here sometimes. There is even a gate they can close, although i've never seen it closed. It's a couple miles further to the road end and trailhead; by mid day on weekends there can be a lot of cars parked here.

The hike in is very nice, although some care is required. The trail is an old road -- 30 years ago cars drove all the way to the springs, thankfully that's no longer true. Most of the walk is on pavement, but the pavement is crumbling in places, there are a few trees across the road and in the past couple of years a couple of streams have washed out the road requiring a bit of rock hopping. It's a pretty easy 45 minute walk, gently uphill. This is cougar country so i avoid walking in or out at night. Occasionally, unfortunately, people will ride mountain bikes or 4 wheel motorized ATVs in. It's against park rules and is a problem, but the washouts have helped to stop that.

Olympic Hot Springs was once a Native American retreat.  They used it for thousands of years.  They tell stories of two dragons fighting (Elwha & Sol Duc). When the European settlers came in the early 1900s, they built a road back to the springs, built a big resort and ran the springs through pipes. I have seen photos of it and it was really hanging on the side of the hill, and it looks like an Olympic (no pun intended) sized swimming pool.  People would come for a week for medicinal reasons -- i think that would be very very healthy!  The National Park was created around the resort and it was grandfathered in. 

Over 40 years ago the resort burned and was removed, and the area returned completely to wilderness.  There is almost no evidence of it now, but the pools are still fed by pipes laid when the resort was built. The mud and stone pools are lovingly built and maintained by the locals, folks who live in and around Port Angeles who visit often. Thank them! The pools are clothing optional and pretty much everyone is naked.  For this and other reasons the Park Service spent many years trying to prevent people going there, even destroying the pools. Happily they have now embraced it. I think i've seen swimsuits only once or twice and frankly it seems weird.  (We have observed that it somehow seems MORE sexualized with a swimsuit!).

The flow-through on most, not all, of the pools is adequate to be safe -- the possible health danger is from fecal matter suspended in the pools.  I do try to avoid going if i have an open cut or anything.  There is a danger but it is pretty low, in my opinion.  It is much, much worse in the summer, when there are more people and less water... we usually try to go when it's cold, snowy or rainy anyway.  I think of the 3 dozen times i have been there, only one was between May & October. 

I like to go up to the Hot Springs when it is raining, or best of all when there is snow. I watch the snow level reports and head out if they get low enough. Being in the pools while it is snowing is the greatest thing!!! The springs are at 2,000 feet elevation, the trailhead at about 1,700. Two years ago, we went up intending to walk to the snowy hot springs, it was the end of November 1996 -- we didn't make it. We had to park at the overlook above the dam and it was a lovely walk through the snowy forest. We only got as far as the trailhead -- there was three feet of snow there. We couldn't get further without snowshoes.

The best of all was last March (1998), when it started snowing while we were actually in the pools!

Make sure you bring good walking shoes, a towel, warm clothes for the walk out. I bring something, usually a foam mat, to stand on when i change, it's easy to get very chilled after getting out of the hot springs. And a wool hat is ideal when soaking on cold days. Bring lots of water, and bring a garbage bag to collect your garbage, and any other garbage lying around.

THE POOLS
As of last spring (March 1998) there were 8 pools. I've watched these pools evolve over the last 5 years, some get hotter, others cool down, some bigger, others dwindle. Oh yeah, i made up the pool numbers. As far as i know they don't have any names.

These days the pools are stone and mud. Usually there are stones or logs to sit on, occasionally you sit on the mud bottom. Most all of them have a fast enough flow through to be safe. Most of the pools are a pretty good way from any cold water, so a cold plunge is hard to do.

Pool 8

Pool eight is by far the best pool of them all, but few people recognize this. Almost everyone walks right past it, and the people who do use it do so usually because they don't know there are more pools (ie they haven't been told to go to pool 1). The mineral content is quite high and it is a true spring bubbling up through the sand on the bottom. The water is very hot; it is so hot that you usually can't stay in the water for an extended time. One time in the summer i got 1st degree burns (like a sunburn) just from putting my feet in it! The pool is just above the trail, quite close to the bridge over the river. In just 1996 & 1997 this pool has gotten considerably bigger... (It didn't even exist before 1996!) but from the water temperature, i'd say it could still manage to get even a bit larger. The pool is just above the trail, but it is reasonably out of view of the trail. [Note: early 1999 This pool is now extremely large, and although still very hot, it is probably a bit too large.]
RATINGS:
DEPTH: 3 -- A few fairly shallow places, but mostly deep enough to cover shoulders.
SIZE: 2 -- Comfortable for five people.
FEED: 3 -- Bubbles from below!.
HOT: 3 -- Very [spring 1998].
STAY: -2 -- If you stay for several hours, you have to get up and sit on the rocks out of the water every 15 minutes or so.
ACCESS: 1 -- Close to the trail; but the rocks are very slippery.
PRIVACY: 1 -- The pool is close to the trail and is the first one you pass. It's also the first one everyone else passes!
FOREST: 2 -- Very nice! Good overhanging trees too.
PIPES: 3 -- No pipes, it's a real spring!

Pool 7

Pool seven is the only pool that is below the trail on the hillside down towards the river, it is to the left of the trail down a path. This pool is fed by a very large pipe which brings runoff from pools 6 & 8 as well as from the numerous tiny springs along the trail. The mineral content is low, and the water is cooler than most -- you can stay for a long time, unlike the hotter pools, but after an hour or two you do start to cool down. It is a nice, large, fairly deep pool, with lots of flat space around it that is easy to use to undress. Because of this it is also very popular and you'll usually have to share. This is the only pool that is visible from the main trail on the other side of the river. The great advantage of this pool is that, although not right next to the river, it is close enough to sneak down for a quick dip in the almost freezing water -- which is a wonderful experience. The path, such as it is, down the steep slope to the river is very rocky and is hard to do in bare feet (i usually slip into my boots or bring sandles) -- at the river you will find two house-sized boulders and if you sneak between them, there is a warmish pool to stand ankle deep in (it's runoff from the springs) and you can splash part or all of your body into the ice cold water staying fairly protected from the current. The river is very swift and very cold and you should be extremely careful to keep out of the current at all costs.
RATINGS:
DEPTH: 3 -- One of the better ones.
SIZE: 3 -- Large.
FEED: -3 -- Big nasty runoff pipe!
HOT: -1 -- Lukewarm [spring 1998]
STAY: 2 -- Stay awhile!
ACCESS: 3 -- Good trail, flat soft apron!
PRIVACY: 1 -- Large and sometimes crowded, visible from trail across river.
FOREST: 1 -- In a clearing, but the river is beautiful too!
PIPES: -3 -- Big ugly pipe.

Pool 6

Pool six is right alongside the trail -- perhaps less than a meter away. It's back is a concrete wall from the construction at the old resort, but the hot water bubbles up through the sand from below -- making it appear at least, as a real spring. It is quite small, but reasonably deep and the mineral content is higher than most.
RATINGS:
DEPTH: 1 -- Shallow.
SIZE: -2 -- Nice and cozy for two people.
FEED: 3 -- Bubbles from below!
HOT: 1 -- Nice [spring 1998]
STAY: 2 -- Hang out all afternoon and chat with the people on the trail.
ACCESS: 3 -- Directly next to the trail.
PRIVACY: -3 -- The pool is almost on the trail.
FOREST: 1 -- Trail opening takes you a bit away from the forest, but it is still very nice.
PIPES: -2 -- No pipes, but the concrete wall is from the resort.

Pool 5

Pool five is a fairly new pool, far above the trail on the hillside on wet, sulfur covered rocks, it is a slippery, difficult climb -- perhaps a 40 or 45 feet above the trail rocks -- but there is also a somewhat hidden trail up, which you should be certain to use. This is a nice looking pool with a feed from a stream (from a pipe not too far away) and is fairly deep. But there is a strange phenomenon with this pool: The top 25 or so centimeters are very hot, but beneath that is 20 or so centimeters of mud which is ice cold. Very uncomfortable. Mineral content seems very low, the pool is a comfortable size for 2 people, no more. Watch this pretty, isolated pool because if the temperature problems clear up, it will be a VERY nice one.
RATINGS:
DEPTH: 1 -- Shallow.
SIZE: 1 -- Nice for two people.
FEED: 1 -- A stream (from a pipe).
HOT: - 1 -- Mixed nice water with frigid mud. Not usable. [spring 1998]
STAY: -3 -- Can't get in.
ACCESS: -3 -- It's easy to fall and hurt yourself climbing the slope.
PRIVACY: 3 -- Very private! The pool is almost not visible from the trail below.
FOREST: 3 -- Excellent and all around you!
PIPES: 1 -- Not visible, and the stream is nice.

Pool 4

Pool four is another very new pool, far above the trail on the hillside. It is a slippery, difficult climb -- perhaps a 30 or 40 feet above the trail on wet, sulfur covered rocks -- to the little pool. Since it is a new pool, it is still very small. I added a bit to the construction both of the last few times i was there and i'm sure it will grow over time. I am sure of this because other than it's size and accessibility, this is a very nice pool. It is very hot and somewhat isolated. Since it is rarely used, we recently found quite a number of spiders nearby, but we gently moved them away. It is fed by a series of pipes coming down the hillside and the mineral content is medium. It is worth spending some time there, and helping to build it up as this will soon be a favorite.
RATINGS:
DEPTH: -2 -- Very shallow, you have to lay down to get under the water.
SIZE: -1 -- Tight for two people.
FEED: -2 -- Pipes and broken pipes.
HOT: 2 -- Very hot; Hot enough that it hurts to first step into it; not so hot that you can't sit in it, but just hot enough to be nice. [spring 1998]
STAY: 1 -- You probably won't want to make this the only pool you visit... yet.
ACCESS: - 2 -- It's easy to fall and hurt yourself climbing the slope.
PRIVACY: 2 -- The pool is almost not visible from the trail below.
FOREST: 3 -- Excellent and all around you!
PIPES: -2 -- Pretty nasty.

Pool 3

Pool three is by far the largest pool. Several years ago this was my favorite pool but it has gotten slightly larger and considerably cooler over the years. Since this pool is fed only by run off from pool two, the enlarging of that pool is probably why this one is cooler. Now it is rarely used, and then mostly by kids. Sometimes it is nice to move from the hot end of pool two into this pool to cool down, but you can't stay long in this pool without getting chilled. The mineral content is medium to low. This pool is by far the easiest to access because it is just inches from the trail, with a large space to undress and just a step down into the pool.
RATINGS:
DEPTH: 3 -- At the middle it is the deepest of all the pools.
SIZE: 3 -- Very large.
FEED: -2 -- The runoff from pool 2, but it cascades through a scree slope.
HOT: -1 -- Quite cool, perhaps slightly below body temperature. Good pool if you wind up at the Hot Springs in the summertime. The coolest of them all. [spring 1998]
STAY: -1 -- Can't stay long, you get chilled quickly.
ACCESS: 3 -- Extremely easy.
PRIVACY: -2 -- Right on the trail! Every passerby sticks their hand in!
FOREST: 1 -- Nice.
PIPES: 1 -- Not visible.

Pool 2

Pool two is in a pretty setting surrounded directly by a cliff. It is at what appears to be the end of the trail and completely in view of the trail -- which detracts quite a bit from the privacy. A scree slope approximately 1.5 meters high forms the front of this pool and the water cascades out of the scree slope into pool 3. This crescent shaped pool has grown considerably over the last few years, in 1992 it could only fit 2 people; i think it's far too big now. The mineral content is medium to high. The pool has two feeds, and one is a cute little waterfall where a pipe from the old resort spills out of the cliff about 70 centimeters above the pool; this is the only place in the Olympics that you can sit underneath cascading hot water. A large rock within this pool divides the pool into two different parts with very different water temperatures.
RATINGS:
DEPTH: 2 -- Good, sitting leaning back will cover the shoulders. The left side is shallower.
SIZE: 3 -- Very large. Perhaps too big for comfort, certainly too big to sustain any good heat.
FEED: 2 -- It is still from pipes from the resort, but they are both hidden and very pretty.
HOT: 1 -- It's a mixture, the left side is far too cool, while the right side is too hot to sit in for long. [1998]
STAY: 3 -- It is actually a good pool to stay in for a while because you can move back and forth from the hot to the lukewarm.
ACCESS: 2 -- Right off the trail; the scree slope is short but slippery.
PRIVACY: - 2 -- Directly on the trail.
FOREST: 2 -- Good trees and ferns and mist, the cliff at the back is nice and a small cave is forming.
PIPES: 2 -- Not visible, but still feed by a pipe and not a directly by a spring.

Pool 1

Pool one is nice and secluded. It is up a steep hill and is almost as far from the next closest pool as the longest distance between any other pools, so one would think you would have privacy here, but is also, by far, the most popular and therefore can be crowded. I often avoid it for that reason and because the weird people who visit the springs usually gravitate to this pool. This also can cause it to have more garbage than the others. Nevertheless it is a very nice pool. And i have, occasionally, had some privacy here.

This pool, which can be a bit too hot, has a cold stream which can be diverted into the pool to cool it down and also to cool yourself off by scooping up water and splashing it upon yourself -- a very important aspect that is sorely missing from many of the pools. Also the mineral content of this pool is very low, the lowest of all the pools, which is somewhat disappointing.
RATINGS:
DEPTH: 2 -- quite good, sitting leaning back will cover the shoulders.
SIZE: 2 -- it is big enough for 5 or 6 comfortably and a tight fit for maybe 8 or more.
FEED: 1 -- is from a stream down the hillside that comes from an old pipe from the resort. Not great, but not the worst.
HOT: 2 -- very hot, but you can still sit in it for awhile. [1998]
STAY: 1 -- Would get the highest rating, but it is too crowded so it got a mediocre rating.
ACCESS: 1 -- longest walk, and up a steep hill, difficult, but not dangerous.
PRIVACY: -1 -- Most isolated, but by far the most popular and therefore crowded. FOREST: 3 -- Gorgeous view! Perfect.
PIPES: 1 -- Not visible, but still feed by a pipe and not a directly by a spring.



Litter, trash and garbage are a huge problem at the hot springs. Unfortunately a lot of horrible, brainless, people dump all sorts of garbage on the trails, in the forest, around the pools and even in the pools!!!!

One cannot visit Olympic Hot Springs without being totally nauseated by the garbage everywhere! There are even some fools who place candles on the rocks around the pools, let the wax dribble down around the rocks and then LEAVE it there!

Please, i beg you, do not leave any garbage: food wrappers, fruit peels or cores, cigarette butts, bottles, bottle caps, candle wax, towels, underwear, toilet paper or anything else. Pack every piece of it out.

I ALWAYS bring a garbage bag (and sometimes gloves!) and pick up lots of garbage before i get in the pools and maybe on the walk home. I encourage everyone who visits the springs to take the responsibility to do the same.



Every time i go to Elwha i have a couple of fantasies....

I dream of getting some heavy machinery in there and a work crew and pulling out every concrete block, every piece of garbage, large or small, every pipeline and other remnant of the old resort, the port-a-potty and everything, and then, as they pull out, pulling up and hauling out all of the pavement. Then building an actual hiking trail in place of the road... which would mean repairing much of that slope so the damage from the road is not causing it to collapse.

In fact, I dream of pulling out all of the pavement, and services not only back to the trail head, (3.5 km from the springs) but all the way back to the valley overlook at the bend in the road above the dam (about 7.4 km from the hot springs), and having the real hiking trail run from there. Once the trail was built, the trail could be designed so it was impossible for vehicles to negotiate it. No bikes, cars or brain dead losers would be able to use the trail.

I dream of tearing out the Lake Mills dam, which you pass on the way in, and allowing the valley (and the salmon) to function naturally. Further I dream of tearing out, not only the pavement and dam, but the entire Hot Springs road from Highway 101, to the new trailhead at the valley overlook, and replacing it with a singleline rail for a alpine train to negotiate. There could be a small covered station at the top and at the bottom, your fare would help support the trail and the springs, no one could go in after the last train and, we hope, people would not go in unprepared. Regular work parties could keep building up the pools using mud and stones and logs only... And best of all, no vehicles other than the train could possibly penetrate the wilderness!

But then i also dream of enforcing the litter laws too...