Austin Hot Springs

Current status: closed

Austin Hot Springs is closed, and it is not coming back as a soaking spot. The land is private, owned by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and the tribes do not allow any public use. Their own notice says there is no legal way to reach the springs and asks people to use public hot springs elsewhere in the region.

This page exists because the name still shows up on maps, old guidebooks and social media, sometimes with directions. If you have seen it listed as a free riverside soak an hour and a half from Portland, that information is years out of date. Going there means trespassing, and it can mean a citation.

What the site is

The springs sit on the upper Clackamas River in the Cascades, inside the boundary of the Mt. Hood National Forest but on a private inholding. The property covers about 151.7 acres and includes roughly 0.9 miles of the river. It lies about 6 miles east of the Ripplebrook Ranger Station and roughly 35 miles southeast of Estacada, along Forest Road 46 (the continuation of Highway 224 beyond Ripplebrook).

Hot water seeps out of the riverbed and the banks in at least four areas. For decades visitors stacked river rocks into small pools along the north bank, where the hot seeps meet the cold Clackamas, and dug channels and low levees to mix the two. That is what people remember: a row of rock-walled pools at the river’s edge with a forest road right above.

That version of the site has been taken apart. A restoration project on the property, led by the tribes and the Clackamas River Basin Council removed an unpermitted dam and the soaking pools, built six large log jams and a deflector structure along about a mile of river, and dug new side channels as rearing habitat for juvenile salmon. Work began in 2024 and is listed for completion in 2027.

History

The tribes describe the springs as a sacred site used by Native peoples long before any road reached the canyon, and tribal members used them historically. A 1920s photograph in the Portland General Electric archive shows a party at the springs during the utility’s Oak Grove hydro project.

According to county records summarized in the tribes’ land management plan, Portland General Electric owned the property and ran it as a campground from around 1950, possibly earlier, until 1985. A private buyer then logged and replanted part of it. The land changed hands again in 2000, and in September 2017 the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs bought it, and the land is now protected by a Bonneville Power Administration conservation easement. The goal is fish and wildlife conservation, with Chinook salmon, Pacific lamprey and Oregon spotted frog among the target species.

Why it is closed

The tribes and their partners give several reasons, and all of them are documented.

• Scalding water: The springs can release sudden surges of water at up to about 200°F93°C. People have been severely burned, and a fatality was discovered at the property in August 2019.
• Damage to the river: At its peak, trespass reached an estimated 80 to 100 people a day in summer, at all hours, with no toilets. The tribes recorded heavy trash, human waste around the pools, illegal campfires, abandoned trailers and long-term camping.
• Fire risk: Illegal campfires in a dry forest canyon threaten the whole upper Clackamas, not just this property.
• Fish habitat: Rock walls and levees built for soaking cut the river off from its floodplain in the stretch salmon use.

The tribes tried gates, boulders and signs. The main gate on Forest Road 46 was welded shut in August 2019 and broken through within days, and signs kept disappearing. The property was then entered into the Clackamas County Sheriff’s exclusion program, which lets deputies enforce trespass law on the owners’ behalf. A camera went up and citations followed.

Getting there

Do not go. There is no permitted parking, trail or viewing area, and the sheriff patrols. Oregon trespass charges range from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor depending on the circumstances.

If you are driving the Clackamas River corridor for other reasons, note that the area was hit by the Austin Fire, which started on August 9, 2026, on slopes north of Forest Road 46 southeast of Ripplebrook. It grew past 12,800 acres. Highway 224 later reopened, but a Forest Service closure order covering parts of Forest Road 46 and nearby roads and campgrounds runs through December 31, 2026, unless lifted earlier. Check the Mt. Hood National Forest alerts page and TripCheck before you head up the canyon.

When to go

There is no season for this one. The site is closed year-round, and the tribes ask the public to stay away entirely and help spread the word.

Where to stay nearby

For the Clackamas River corridor in general, the Forest Service runs a string of riverside campgrounds along Highway 224 and Forest Road 46, including Riverside, Rainbow, Ripplebrook and Riverford. Several were inside the 2026 fire closure, so confirm what is open before you go. Estacada has the nearest groceries and fuel, and Portland is about 90 minutes from the upper canyon in normal conditions.

Where to soak instead

• Bagby Hot Springs, in the same ranger district, is the legal and staffed option, with cedar tubs in bathhouses at the end of a 1.5-mile forest trail. It closed as a precaution during the Austin Fire in August 2026, so check its status before planning a trip.
• Umpqua Hot Springs in southern Oregon is a longer drive but open to the public with a day pass.
• Commercial hot spring resorts in the Oregon Cascades offer staffed pools with clear rules, which is the opposite of what Austin offered at its worst.

Safety notes

Even setting the law aside, Austin was one of the more dangerous soaking spots in the state. The hot seeps are unpredictable, and a pool that felt fine one minute could flood with near-boiling water the next. The tribes note that nobody monitors the site for safety, and there is no cell service in the canyon to call for help. The river itself is cold and fast in spring. Leave it to the salmon.