Grande Hot Springs RV Resort

What to expect

Grande Hot Springs RV Resort is a full-service RV park in the Grande Ronde Valley of northeast Oregon, about 8 miles south of downtown La Grande. What sets it apart from an ordinary campground is the water. The resort holds water rights to the hot spring at Hot Lake next door. A pump on the lakeshore draws water from the source at about 171°F77°C, and the resort uses it to heat its buildings, its showers and its soaking pools.

Hot Lake itself is a big geothermal spring at the foot of Craig Mountain. The resort says more than 2 million gallons a day flow from the ground there. The Nez Perce knew the lake as Ea-Kesh-Pa, and Oregon Trail travelers stopped here.

The setup is simple and practical rather than spa-like. You get grassy pull-through sites, clean restrooms with hot spring showers, laundry, wifi, a recreation hall and two outdoor mineral soaking pools for guests. There is also a seasonal swimming pool and spa that are not mineral water. Craig Mountain rises behind the property and the flat valley floor spreads out in front. It works well as a base for the Wallowas, Anthony Lakes or a break on a long I-84 drive.

How it relates to Hot Lake Springs

This is the part that confuses people. Hot Lake has been developed on and off since the early 1900s, when the brick Hot Lake Hotel drew patients from across the country. In 1985 Union County approved an RV resort as part of a redevelopment plan for the Hot Lake property, and the park opened in 1988. In 1994 the property was split into separate parcels, and the RV park went its own way under different owners. It was known as Eagles Hot Lake RV Resort before Mike and Tamarah Rysavy bought it in 2013 and renamed it.

In 2020 the Rysavys also bought the historic hotel next door. It reopened in 2021 as the Lodge at Hot Lake Springs, with rooms, a pub, a small theater and day-use soaking. So the two places share a spring and an ownership family, but they are run as separate businesses with separate pools, prices and websites. The lodge has its own page: Hot Lake Springs. If you want to soak without staying the night, go there. If you are arriving with an RV or a tent, this is the place.

The pools

• Warm mineral pool: kept between 92 and 96°F33 and 36°C. Good for a long, lazy soak on a summer evening.
• Hot mineral pool: kept between 102 and 104°F39 and 40°C.
• Swimming pool and spa: seasonal and not filled with mineral water.
• Yurt tubs: Yurt 1 has vintage claw-foot tubs on a private patio. Yurt 2 has a cedar tub behind a pine-plank fence on a heated concrete patio. Both are filled with hot spring water and are available year-round.

The hot spring water is too hot to use straight from the source, so the resort mixes it with water from its own 77°F25°C geothermal well. That well also supplies the drinking water, which the resort says is tested to state standards.

Prices and booking

Rates below are from the resort’s reservation page in October 2026. Add 5% lodging tax, and expect changes.

• 30-amp RV site, full hookups: $69 a night, $64 with AAA, Good Sam or military, $384 a week. Up to 6 people included, then $10 per person. RVs only on RV sites.
• 50-amp RV sites: also available. All 100 sites are 90-foot pull-throughs with water, power and sewer. Check current pricing when you book.
• Tent sites: $50 a night for 2 adults and 2 tents. Extra people $10 each, children 3 and under free. Sites sit beside a canal and a nature trail with shade.
• Group tent area: from $100, by special request.
• Yurts and tiny home: booked through the reservations page, which links to the resort’s listings. The tiny home has a full kitchen and sleeps 4. No pets, inside or out, and no smoking in the tiny home.

RV stays need no deposit, so you can cancel any time before arrival without charge. The resort asks you to let it know so the site can go to someone else. Check-in is 1 pm and check-out is noon. Call (541) 963-5253 or email through the website for exact pool opening and closing dates.

Getting there

From I-84, take exit 265 at La Grande. Highway signs point you onto OR-203, and you follow it southeast for about 5 miles to Hot Lake Lane. The resort is at 65182 Hot Lake Lane, a short distance in. Everything is paved and big rigs are expected.

The resort specifically warns against using I-84 exit 268, which takes you over about 2 miles of gravel. The small town of Union is a short drive further along OR-203.

When to go

Spring through early fall is when the mineral pools run, usually from about April to September. Early and late season soaking depends on the weather, so call ahead. Summer days in the Grande Ronde Valley can be hot, which makes the warm pool more appealing than the hot one in July.

Winter is a different trip. The resort stays open, but the outdoor pools close because, in its own words, the concrete soaking area was not built for winter ice and high winds. The yurts with private tubs are then the only way to soak here, or you can book winter soaking at the lodge next door, which the resort says was designed to stay open all winter.

Fall 2026 note: the resort’s home page says the soaking pools closed on October 3, 2026 for planned upgrades over the winter. That fits the normal off-season, but check the home page in spring for reopening news.

Rules and etiquette

The resort’s own rules page did not load when we checked, so ask for the current list at check-in. A few things are clear from its booking pages:

• Pools are for registered guests.
• Children are welcome, and tent rates count children 3 and under as free.
• Yurts have propane fire pits, and the group tent area has a fire pit. Ask before lighting anything at an RV site.
• The tiny home is strictly no pets and no smoking.

This is a family RV park, so bring a swimsuit for the pools.

Where to stay nearby

You are already at the campground, but if it is full:

• The Lodge at Hot Lake Springs, next door, has restored rooms in the 1906 brick hotel and day-use soaking.
• La Grande, 8 miles north, has chain motels, restaurants and full services along I-84.
• Union, further southeast on OR-203, is the next small town.

Safety notes

• Hot source water. The resort collects the spring water at about 171°F77°C and says Hot Lake water leaves the ground at up to 186°F86°C. Stay out of the lake and its outflow channels. Only soak in the managed pools and tubs.
• Yurt tubs. These fill straight from the hot spring line. Test the water before you get in and adjust it with cold water if you can.
• Winter driving. Northeast Oregon winters bring snow and ice on I-84. Check ODOT TripCheck before a winter yurt booking.