| Breitenbush Hot Springs | |
|---|---|
 Breitenbush Hot Springs Sweat House in 1923 | |
 | |
| Location | near Detroit, Oregon |
| Coordinates | 44°46′59″N121°58′40″W / 44.783061°N 121.9777805°W |
| Elevation | 2,225 [1] |
| Type | geothermal |
| Discharge | (220±20 L/s) |
| Temperature | 356 °F (180 °C) to 150°F (65°C) |
  | |
Breitenbush Hot Springs, also known as Breitenbusher Hot Springs, is a thermal mineral spring system along the Breitenbush River near the historic town of Breitenbush, Oregon, United States. [2]
The hot springs in this geothermal area were used for centuries by the Indigenous people in the region, the Kalapuya, Wasco, and Molalla, for medicinal and spiritual purposes. [1] Settlers began using the springs in the 1840s. [3] [4]
In 1873, a Willamette Valley farmer John Minto, a Willamette Valley statesman and farmer began developing a transportation route over the Cascade Mountains, wrote in a 1903 memoire, that Henry States, Frank Cooper, and himself had named hot springs after meeting a one-armed hunter named John Breitenbush, who was camping near the hot springs. In 1938, a man named Frederick Breitenbusher claimed that this was his pioneer father, Lewis Breitenbusher. Since 1873, the shortened name Breitenbush rather than Breitenbusher has been used for the springs. [1]
In 1897, John Hollingsworth began managing the hot springs and in 1904 the upper and lower pools became two separate soaking areas. [5] In the same year a grant for the upper hot springs was issued to Claude Mansfield by president Theodore Roosevelt. [5]
In the 1910s, a Salem resident, Mark Skiff, was issued a Forest Service permit to develop the lower hot springs into a commercial establishment, named Skiff's camp. [3] [5] The upper springs were purchased in 1927, by the Bruckman family who further developed the springs to include a large pool and local amenities. [5] In the 1970s the upper and lower facilities were destroyed in a flood. In 1977, the upper springs were purchased by Alex Beamer, and later rebuilt into a retreat and conference center. The lower springs remain in a primitive state with the remains of the soaking pools as well as natural rock pools. [3]
The geothermally heated water emerges from over thirty springs [1] at 356 °F (180 °C), and cool to between 198 °F (92 °C) and 150 °F (65 °C) at the surface. [2] [3] The mineral content includes analcime, anhydrite, calcite, calcium, chalcedony, lithium, magnesium, microcline, muscovite, sodium, sulfate, potassium, and quartz. [6]
The Breitenbush hot springs geothermal area is located on the boundary between the Western Cascade late-Tertiary rocks and the High Cascade rocks which are younger in geological age. [7] The Western Cascade rock formations include the pumice-rich, crystal-vitric Breitenbush Tuff, tuffaceous sandstone, the Detroit Beds, and mudflow breccia. The Breitenbush Tuff is covered by the basaltic lava and breccia of the Outerson Formation. Erosion has occurred in many of the volcanic landforms, but the residuum of the High Cascade volcanoes are still recognizable. [8]
The springs are located in the Willamette National Forest. The Lower Breitenbush hot springs area us are on public land managed by the USDA Forest Service; and are not to be confused with the resort establishment, Breitenbush Hot Springs, [4] where some of the upper hot springs are located on private property and are accessible only to paying guests of the commercial establishment. [3]
Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the Earth's largest calderas, measuring about 20 mi (32 km) long (east-west), 11 mi (18 km) wide (north-south), and up to 3,000 ft (910 m) deep.
The Breitenbush River is a tributary of the North Santiam River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains a rugged, forested area of the Cascade Range east of Salem.
Terwilliger Hot Springs, also known as Cougar Hot Springs, are geothermal pools in the Willamette National Forest in the U.S. state of Oregon, 53 miles (85 km) east of Eugene. The springs drain into Rider Creek, which in turn drains into Cougar Reservoir. They are about a quarter mile from Forest Service Road 19, also known as Aufderheide Memorial Drive.
The Umpqua Hot Springs are a group of geothermal springs located along the North Umpqua River in the U.S. state of Oregon at 2,640 feet (800 m) elevation.
Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat & Conference Center, is a worker-owned co-op featuring holistic and spiritual retreats. It is surrounded by the Willamette National Forest in Marion County, Oregon, United States, 10 miles (16 km) east-northeast of Detroit along the West Cascades Scenic Byway and 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Mount Jefferson. The closest metropolitan area, Salem, is approximately 60 miles (100 km) to the west. The retreat center is located at the site of the historic Breitenbush Hot Springs, which drain into the adjacent Breitenbush River.
Breitenbush is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Oregon, United States, located approximately 10 miles NE of Detroit, Oregon, and 10 miles NW of Mt. Jefferson. The community is situated on private land, encompassed entirely by the Willamette National Forest, and is notable for having several hot springs, both nearby and on the property. It is said to have been originally homesteaded in 1888, and its hot springs have seen varied degrees of development and use since that time. In its heyday as a resort, the community was served by a post office, which operated between 1928 and 1953.
Diamond Peak is a volcano in Klamath and Lane counties of central Oregon in the United States. It is a shield volcano, though it might also be considered a modest stratocone. Diamond Peak forms part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Cascade Range in western North America extending from southern British Columbia through Oregon to Northern California. Reaching an elevation of 8,748 feet (2,666 m), the mountain is located near Willamette Pass in the Diamond Peak Wilderness within the Deschutes and Willamette national forests. Surrounded by coniferous forest and visible in the skyline from foothills near Eugene, Diamond Peak offers a few climbing routes and can be scrambled. Diamond Peak is one of Oregon's Matterhorns.
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McCredie Springs are hot springs and a former resort in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located near Oregon Route 58, 10.7 miles (17.2 km) east of Oakridge, and 50.7 miles (81.6 km) east of Eugene, within the Willamette National Forest. It is known for the nearby natural hot springs along Salt Creek.
The North Fork Breitenbush River is a tributary of the Breitenbush River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It begins at Papoose Lakes near Breitenbush Lake in the Cascade Range north of Mount Jefferson and flows generally northwest and west through the Mount Hood National Forest, Olallie Scenic Area, Mount Jefferson Wilderness, and Willamette National Forest. It merges with the South Fork Breitenbush River to form the Breitenbush River main stem slightly upstream of Breitenbush Hot Springs.
The South Fork Breitenbush River is a 10-mile (16 km) tributary of the Breitenbush River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The river flows generally northwest from Russell Lake in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness of the Cascade Range to near Breitenbush Hot Springs, where it merges with the North Fork Breitenbush River to form the main stem.
The South Fork McKenzie River is a tributary, about 31 miles (50 km) long, of the McKenzie River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It begins at about 4,500 feet (1,400 m) above sea level near Mink Lake in the Three Sisters Wilderness of the Cascade Range. Flowing northwest within Lane County, it meets the McKenzie River about 60 miles (97 km) from the larger river's confluence with the Willamette River.
Salt Creek is a 30-mile (48 km) tributary of the Middle Fork Willamette River in Lane County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named for salt springs along its banks that are used as licks by deer. The stream originates as an outflow of Lower Betty Lake in the forested Cascade Range just southeast of Waldo Lake. It proceeds generally south, through Gold Lake, to Route 58, which it then follows mainly northwest for about 26 miles (42 km) to its mouth at the Middle Fork Willamette River just below Hills Creek Dam. At Salt Creek Falls—roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Willamette Pass and a little more than 22 miles (35 km) upstream from the mouth—the stream plunges 286 feet (87 m), discharging an average of 50,000 U.S. gallons (190,000 L) of water per minute, or 111 cubic feet per second (3.1 m3/s). Below the falls, the creek enters a narrow canyon shaped by glaciation and basaltic lava flows from higher in the Cascades. McCredie Hot Springs, at the former community of McCredie Springs, are natural hot springs along the lower half of Salt Creek beside Route 58.
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Conundrum Hot Springs is a geothermal spring in a remote section of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness area of the White River National Forest in Colorado Rocky Mountains.
Spence Hot Springs are a group of geothermal springs located north of the town of Jemez Springs, New Mexico, in the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
McCauley Hot Springs, also known as McCauley Warm Springs is a thermal spring in the Santa Fe National Forest, near the Jemez Springs area of Northern New Mexico.
Truth or Consequences Hot Springs is a thermal spring system located in the Hot Springs Artesian Basin area of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico in Sierra County.
