Bully Creek Hot Springs

What to expect

Bully Creek Hot Springs is a name that turns up on hot spring lists and maps, but it is not a place you can plan a soak around. As far as we can tell, there is no public pool, no operator and no confirmed way for a visitor to reach the water legally.

The spring itself is real. Oregon’s Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) lists it as Bully Creek Spring in its Geothermal Information Layer, drawing on a 1994 state database of low-temperature geothermal sites. The record gives a spot temperature of 98.6°F37°C and a flow of about 75 liters (roughly 20 gallons) a minute, and classes it with the wider Neal and Bully Creek Hot Springs area west of Vale. Water chemistry was sampled, but no pool or bathhouse is mentioned.

At 98.6°F37°C the water is body temperature. Even in the best case it would feel like a warm bath on a summer day, not a hot soak on a cold night.

Why it is listed as closed

Three things point the same way:

1. Land status. Federal surface-management data from the Bureau of Land Management shows the mapped point as private land. BLM and Bureau of Reclamation land lie close by, which may be why some lists assume it is public.
2. A property listing. In May 2025 a real-estate listing advertised a 20-acre parcel on Bully Creek Road, bordered by BLM land and fronting Bully Creek Reservoir, as having its own private hot spring. We cannot prove it is the same spring, but the description matches the location.
3. Soaking guides are unsure. Soak Oregon, one of the more careful regional guides, leaves Bully Creek off its main list and files it under “unlisted” with a note that it may be private.

Put together, there is no evidence of public access. We have marked the listing closed so nobody drives out expecting a pool, and we will update it if a landowner or agency confirms otherwise.

Getting there

You should not try to reach the spring itself without the landowner’s permission. For context on where it is:

From Vale, on US Highway 20/26, head west on Graham Boulevard and then Bully Creek Road. The Bureau of Reclamation’s Bully Creek Reservoir is about 10 miles west of town, with paved access to the dam and to Malheur County’s Bully Creek Park. The state record puts the spring a few miles farther west, near the upper end of the reservoir on the Hope Butte topographic map. A long-closed USGS stream gauge upstream was named “Bully Creek at Warmsprings”, a hint that the warm water has been known locally for a long time.

Most land along this road is ranch land with gates and fences. Leave gates as you find them, do not park in front of them, and do not walk onto fields without permission.

When to go

There is no season for soaking here because there is no public soak. If you are in the area for the reservoir, spring and early summer are when the water is highest. The reservoir stores irrigation water, so levels drop through the summer and are low by fall. Summers in this part of Malheur County are hot and dry, and winters are cold, with ice on the back roads.

Rules and access

• Treat the spring as private property unless the owner tells you otherwise.
• Bully Creek Reservoir and its shoreline are managed for irrigation storage by the Bureau of Reclamation and operated by the Vale Oregon Irrigation District. Recreation is allowed around the county park and boat ramp.
• Bully Creek Park takes card payments only. Campsites cost $25 a night including electricity, with $10 for each extra tent.

Where to stay nearby

• Bully Creek Park, run by Malheur County since 1966, has 40 campsites with electrical hookups (two ADA accessible), three restrooms with showers, covered shelters, a day-use area and a two-lane concrete boat ramp. A caretaker lives on site. It is open from April 15 to November 15, weather permitting, and you can reserve online through the county or call (541) 473-2969.
• Vale, about 10 miles east, is the nearest town for fuel and supplies. Ontario, farther east near I-84 and the Idaho line, is the largest town in the county and has the widest choice of motels.

Safety notes

• Remoteness: phone coverage gets patchy west of Vale. Carry water, especially in summer.
• Back roads: gravel spurs off Bully Creek Road can turn slick after rain and icy in winter.
• Trespass: most land along Bully Creek Road is private ranch land. Respect posted signs, fences and gates.
• Water: low-temperature springs like this one can grow bacteria and algae. Even where soaking is allowed, keep your head above water.

Soaking alternatives nearby

If you came to eastern Oregon to soak, look at sites with posted access instead. Crane Hot Springs, southeast of Burns on Highway 78, has a large spring-fed pond and private tubs, open daily. Farther south, Alvord Hot Springs sits at the edge of the Alvord Desert below Steens Mountain. Both are long drives from Vale, so check hours and road conditions before you set out.