Oregon has at least 42 documented hot springs, split between famous Cascade forest pools and remote high-desert soaks. 20 are free wild soaks and 22 are paid resorts or managed sites. Bagby Hot Springs in the Cascades and Alvord Hot Springs on the edge of the Alvord Desert are two of the best known, one a cedar-tub soak reached by a forest trail, the other a desert soak below Steens Mountain.
The Cascades hold the best-known forest soaks, from Bagby Hot Springs and Breitenbush Hot Springs in the north to Terwilliger Hot Springs and Umpqua Hot Springs in the central and southern range, most reached by short trails through old-growth forest.
Southeast Oregon's high desert forms a second cluster around Steens Mountain and the Alvord Desert, where Alvord Hot Springs, Mickey Hot Springs, and Crystal Crane Hot Springs near Burns sit in wide-open sagebrush country. The Owyhee canyonlands near Jordan Valley add remote free soaks.
Scattered resorts round out the state, including Belknap Hot Springs near McKenzie Bridge and Lithia Springs Resort near Ashland, giving visitors developed options among the wild hot springs in Oregon.
Oregon spans two very different soaking worlds, wet Cascade forest and dry high desert, within one state. The western pools sit among ferns and old-growth trees reached by short trails, while the eastern soaks lie in remote sagebrush basins below Steens Mountain. Many require a Northwest Forest Pass or a short hike, and the desert sites can need high-clearance vehicles, so fall and late spring bring the easiest access across most of the state.
Highlights are drawn from the hot springs documented in this directory. Others may exist across Oregon's Cascade and high desert backcountry.
Classic cedar-tub soak: Bagby Hot Springs in the Cascades near Estacada offers hand-hewn cedar tubs fed by piped hot water, among the most beloved documented forest soaks in our records, reached by a 1.5-mile trail.
Alvord Desert soak: Alvord Hot Springs sits below Steens Mountain on the edge of the Alvord Desert playa, a developed soaking site with concrete pools and sweeping desert views near Fields.
Terraced forest pools: Umpqua Hot Springs near Roseburg pours into terraced travertine pools on a bluff above the North Umpqua River, reached by a short steep trail in the Cascades.
Retreat center springs: Breitenbush Hot Springs near Detroit pairs natural soaking pools with a long-running wellness retreat and hot spring meadow in the Cascade forest.
Desert oasis resort: Crystal Crane Hot Springs near Burns offers a large warm pond and private tubs in the high desert, a developed oasis east of the Cascades.
Old-growth trail soak: Terwilliger Hot Springs near Blue River is a set of stacked natural pools in old-growth forest above Cougar Reservoir, reached by a short forest trail.
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