Boat Box Hot Spring | |
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Elkhorn Hot Spring | |
Location | Custer County, Idaho, United States |
Coordinates | 44°14′41″N114°53′09″W / 44.2448°N 114.8859°W Coordinates: 44°14′41″N114°53′09″W / 44.2448°N 114.8859°W [1] |
Elevation | 6,100 feet (1,900 m) [2] |
Type | Geothermal |
Discharge | 168 liters per minute |
Temperature | Source: 136 °F (58 °C) [3] Soaking pool: 110 °F (43 °C) [2] |
Boat Box Hot Spring, also known as Elkhorn Hot Spring, is a hot spring located along the Salmon River in the Sawtooth National Forest on Idaho State Highway 75, about 3 miles away from the town of Stanley, Idaho. [1] The hot spring is composed of a single metal tub that is fed through a plastic tube built into the riverbank. The spring is named for the historical wooden tub that was used before it was destroyed by annual spring flooding. [4] The average temperature of Boat Box Hot Spring is usually around 110°F (43.33°C). The water is usually not clear, as algae inhabit its waters. [2]
The hot spring can be accessed between mileposts 192 and 193 on a gravel turnout. [5] Since the spring is on the edge of the highway, visitors only have to travel a short distance over sand and gravel before reaching the hot pool. [6]
The hot spring is open year-round, but has a limited capacity of only three to four people due to its limited size. Visitors do not usually skinny dip, due to its proximity to the highway. [4]
The spring and soaking pool are located at the edge of the Salmon River. The Sawtooth National Forest is visible from the site. Local flora and fauna include subalpine fir, the Engelmann spruce, the Douglas fir, alders, willows, tufted hairgrass, reedgrass, and bluegrass. Local fauna include moose, minks, osprey, spotted sandpiper, sparrows, blackbirds, sockeye salmon, steelhead salmon, rainbow trout, and bull trout. [7]
The hot spring water emerges from the source at 136 °F (58 °C) [3] and cools to a temperature of 110 °F (43 °C) in the soaking pool. [2] The spring water contains elevated levels of silicon dioxide (72.6 mg/L), sodium (70.4 mg/L) and bicarbonate (64.7 mg/L). The pH has been measured between 8.2 [8] and 9.4. The discharge rate is 168 liters per minute. [9]
Though Boat Box Hot Spring is accessible throughout the entire year, heavy snowfall typical in the Rocky Mountains of central Idaho may cause dangerous road conditions, which can impede accessibility to the hot spring.
Climate data for Stanley, Idaho, 1981–2010 normals | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Average high °F (°C) | 25.8 (−3.4) | 32.8 (0.4) | 43.3 (6.3) | 50.5 (10.3) | 60.0 (15.6) | 68.6 (20.3) | 79.1 (26.2) | 78.8 (26.0) | 69.4 (20.8) | 56.2 (13.4) | 37.8 (3.2) | 24.4 (−4.2) | 52.2 (11.2) |
Average low °F (°C) | −1.7 (−18.7) | −1.1 (−18.4) | 9.8 (−12.3) | 19.4 (−7.0) | 27.4 (−2.6) | 33.1 (0.6) | 35.7 (2.1) | 33.4 (0.8) | 26.4 (−3.1) | 20.1 (−6.6) | 10.8 (−11.8) | −1.8 (−18.8) | 17.6 (−8.0) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.28 (33) | 1.44 (37) | 1.18 (30) | 1.01 (26) | 0.91 (23) | 0.87 (22) | 0.47 (12) | 0.40 (10) | 0.44 (11) | 0.84 (21) | 1.68 (43) | 1.73 (44) | 12.25 (312) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 17.4 (44) | 13.0 (33) | 9.9 (25) | 3.4 (8.6) | 0.9 (2.3) | 0.2 (0.51) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.4 (1.0) | 1.7 (4.3) | 10.6 (27) | 14.6 (37) | 72.1 (182.71) |
Source: WRCC [10] |
The Salmon River, also known as "The River of No Return", is a river located in the U.S. state of Idaho in the western United States. It flows for 425 miles (685 km) through central Idaho, draining a rugged, thinly populated watershed of 14,000 square miles (36,000 km2). The river drops more than 7,000 feet (2,100 m) from its headwaters, near Galena Summit above the Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, to its confluence with the Snake River. Measured at White Bird, its average discharge is 11,060 cubic feet per second. It is one of the largest rivers in the continental United States without a single dam on its mainstem.
Little Redfish Lake is a name given to two different alpine lakes in central Idaho, both in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Custer County. This article refers to the lake on Redfish Lake Creek downstream of Redfish Lake and south of Stanley. For the article on the other Little Redfish Lake see Little Redfish Lake.
Boise National Forest is a National Forest covering 2,203,703 acres (8,918.07 km2) of the U.S. state of Idaho. Created on July 1, 1908, from part of Sawtooth National Forest, it is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as five units: the Cascade, Emmett, Idaho City, Lowman, and Mountain Home ranger districts.
The Sawtooth Wilderness is a federally-protected wilderness area that covers 217,088 acres (87,852 ha) of the state of Idaho. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was designated the Sawtooth Primitive Area in 1937 to preserve the exceptional scenic beauty of the Sawtooth Mountains. On August 22, 1972 Public Law 92-400 designated the Primitive Area as the Sawtooth Wilderness and part of the newly created Sawtooth National Recreation Area. As part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, the Sawtooth Wilderness is an area where human development and use are restricted and people are to remain only visitors. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Sawtooth Wilderness has some of the clearest air in the lower 48 states.
Sawtooth National Forest is a National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres in the U.S. states of Idaho and Utah. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was originally named the Sawtooth Forest Reserve in a proclamation issued by President Theodore Roosevelt on May 29, 1905. On August 22, 1972 a portion of the forest was designated as the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA), which includes the Sawtooth, Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds, and Hemingway–Boulders wilderness areas. The forest is managed as four units: the SNRA and the Fairfield, Ketchum, and Minidoka Ranger Districts.
The Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) is a national recreation area in central Idaho, United States that is managed as part of Sawtooth National Forest. The recreation area, established on August 22, 1972, is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and includes the Sawtooth, Hemingway–Boulders, and Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds wilderness areas. Activities within the 730,864-acre (2,957.70 km2) recreation area include hiking, backpacking, White water rafting, camping, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, and hunting.
The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is a 104-mile-long (167 km) river in central Idaho in the northwestern United States. It is a tributary to the Salmon River, and lies in the center of the 2.5-million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area.
Redfish Lake is an alpine lake in Custer County, Idaho, just south of Stanley. It is the largest lake within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
Mount Heyburn, at 10,229 feet (3,118 m) is one of the many 10,000-foot (3,050 m) peaks in the Sawtooth Range of central Idaho. Mount Heyburn is located in Custer County and within the Sawtooth Wilderness portion of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The town of Stanley is located eight miles (13 km) north-northeast of Mount Heyburn. Grand Mogul, 9,733 ft (2,967 m), and Mount Heyburn are the two signature peaks that frame the southwest end of Redfish Lake ; all are in the Salmon River watershed.
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Stanley Lake is an alpine lake in the western United States, located in Custer County, Idaho, at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
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