Sawtooth Lodge Hot Springs

What to expect

Sawtooth Lodge is the main reason most people drive to Grandjean, a tiny summer settlement where the road ends at the western edge of the Sawtooth Mountains. The lodge is a cluster of log cabins, two yurts, a cafe and a store around a meadow on the South Fork Payette River. Its soak is a single outdoor swimming pool fed by the Grandjean hot spring, which rises a short distance away.

This is a swimming pool, not a set of rock tubs. A long-running hot springs directory lists it at about 21 by 13 feet and 3 to 7 feet deep, and it is comfortably warm rather than hot. The same directory puts the daytime pool at about 100 to 101°F38°C and notes that it cools into the high 80s overnight, then warms again after the generator restarts in the morning. The lodge itself just describes it as a hot springs-fed geothermal pool. If you want water closer to tub temperature, ask at the desk about the smaller stock tank soaks.

The feel is old-fashioned and a bit rough at the edges. Some families have been coming for decades, and one regular told Idaho News 6 that the place and the pool look exactly as they did when he was a boy. There is no cell service and no Wi-Fi. Electricity comes from a generator and is switched off overnight. Most guests spend the day hiking, fishing or riding, then soak and eat in the cafe in the evening.

Getting there

Grandjean is reached from Idaho Highway 21, the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway between Lowman and Stanley.

• From Boise: Take Highway 21 northeast through Idaho City and Lowman. Past Lowman, continue up the South Fork Payette canyon. The Grandjean turnoff is on the right between mileposts 93 and 94. Allow 2.5 to 3 hours from Boise.
• From Stanley: Take Highway 21 west over Banner Summit. The Grandjean road is on the left, before you reach the Bonneville area.

From the highway, the Grandjean road (Forest Road 700) runs about 6 miles east along the river on gravel. Ordinary cars handle it in summer, but take it slowly on washboard and around blind corners. You pass Sacajawea Hot Springs about half a mile before the lodge. The lodge sits near the end of the road, close to a Forest Service campground and the Grandjean trailhead.

When to go

The lodge runs as a summer operation, from about early June to early October. Outside that window the cabins, cafe and pool are closed, and you should not expect to soak.

Late August and September are the best weeks. The river is low and clear, and cold mornings make the warm pool feel better. Weeknights are easier to book than weekends.

July is peak season. Cabins sell out early and the pool is busiest.

Pool cleaning: The pool is drained and refilled weekly, and local reporting says that happens on Tuesdays. Booking notices have also warned that the closed day can vary, so ask before you plan your soak around a specific day.

Prices and booking

Cabin and yurt prices listed on the lodge website in 2026 are nightly starting rates:

• Historic cabins 5 to 8: from $85. Built before 1927, they sleep two. Cabins 5 and 6 are steps from the pool; 7 and 8 are near Grandjean Creek.
• Cabins with private baths (1A, 1B, 2, 4, 9, 10): from $150, sleeping two to six depending on the cabin.
• Cabin 3: from $160, recently renovated, sleeps up to six.
• Yurts 1 and 2: from $150, sleeping four or five.

Every stay includes open access to the geothermal pool and use of the shared showers and restrooms. Book through the lodge’s online system or call 208-259-3331. The lodge also offers meadow camping for tents and campers; ask about current rates.

Day soaks: You do not have to stay overnight. The lodge sells pool access to day visitors for a fee paid on site, but it does not publish the price. Call ahead, both for the rate and to make sure the pool is not closed for cleaning.

What to bring: a swimsuit, towel and warm layers. The lodge runs on national forest land under a Forest Service permit, and a Sawtooth National Forest order bans public nudity on forest land through September 2031. Nights at about 5,000 feet are cold even in August.

Where to stay nearby

• Sawtooth Lodge itself is the most comfortable option at Grandjean, with cabins, yurts and meadow camping.
• Grandjean Campground, a small Forest Service campground just beyond the lodge, is first come, first served. Pay with the Recreation.gov scan-and-pay system, and download the app before you lose signal.
• Bonneville Hot Springs has a Forest Service campground on Highway 21 a short drive west of the Grandjean turnoff, with its own soaking pools.
• Lowman has a few lodges and stores. Stanley, over Banner Summit, has the most services in the area.

Safety notes

• Water quality. Hot springs pools are not chlorinated like a city pool. Keep your head above water and shower afterward.
• Cold nights. Temperatures drop fast after sunset. Bring a warm layer for the walk from the pool to your cabin.
• No signal. There is no cell service in Grandjean. Tell someone your plans, download maps before you leave Highway 21, and carry what you need.
• The road. It is narrow gravel with blind corners. Watch for oncoming trucks and horse trailers.
• Wildlife. This is bear country, with deer and elk around the meadows. Keep food in your car or cabin, not in your tent.

History

The settlement is named after Emile Grandjean, a Danish settler who came to the region in the 1880s. He later worked for the young Forest Service as a forest guard and, according to the lodge’s history page, became the first supervisor of the Boise National Forest. The lodge says a hunting lodge was established here by 1927 by Cougar “Babe” Hanson, and that it has run under a Forest Service special use permit for more than 50 years. The Lockett family ran it from 1953 until 2005, and the current operator, Headwater Holdings, took over in 2017.

Nearby stops worth adding

Sacajawea Hot Springs, about half a mile back down the road, is a free, undeveloped set of rock pools on the riverbank. The Grandjean trailhead is the start of several routes into the Sawtooth Wilderness, and a short, steep walk to a nearby waterfall is a favorite with lodge guests. On the way back to Boise, Kirkham Hot Springs near Lowman has pools and warm cascades by the highway.