Granite Hot Springs.

There are two options when visiting Granite Hot Springs. You can either go to the man made concrete pool where the hot springs waters flow into and they drain daily or, if you want to escape some of the crowds, you can cross Granite Creek and reach an area where the spring flows into the creek. We chose the latter of the two options. It is a nice option, not just to avoid the crowds but also because it is free and you can bring your dogs. You just have to brave crossing a very cold creek that can often be deep in areas to get there.

The pool that we swam in was very small and shallow as you can see from the picture above with Alan sitting in it. The pool was formed by people circling an area with river rocks. The majority of the water in this pool is from the hot springs but you can actually allow creek water into the pool to cool it down from the very hot temperatures. I enjoy this feature because you can control the temperature of the hot spring to be whatever you want it to be. Another advantage of coming to the creek access as opposed to the concrete pool is that you have the beautiful view of the Granite Creek waterfall, which is pictured above.

One might wonder why someone would want to visit the concrete pool where they would have to pay for an area where you can't bring your dogs, you don't have a view of the waterfall, you can't control the temperature of the water to your liking and you are there with several other people you don't know. Well, there actually is a time and place for this venue. For some people, crossing the swift and cold creek can be a challenge. Another reason is that the concrete pool is much larger than the pool by the falls. The pool at the falls can fit about 2-3 people comfortably. You can get more people in this pool but you start to become crammed and if you are having to share it with someone you don't know, it might become uncomfortable. And it's not as though the views from the concrete pool are bad either. You are surrounded by beautiful mountains and pines. The concrete pool allows for you to submerge yourself more as well and it actually gives you enough room to actually swim. So, depending on which sounds like your cup of tea, either pool makes for a great venue. The road to the pools is closed in the winter but many people access it by skis, snowmobiles and dog sleds. It is a ten mile trip one way to reach and can be driven other times of the year. The other picture above was taken on the drive leaving the springs. It was a beautiful sunset with the moon coming up over some of the peaks.