Sunbeam Hot Springs

What to expect

Sunbeam is the easiest soak on the Salmon River east of Stanley, and one of the busiest. You park beside Highway 75, walk down a few steps, and you are at the river.

Hot water comes out of several springs on the slope by the highway and runs down to the Salmon. Where it meets the river, visitors have built a row of rock-walled pools with rock, gravel and sand bottoms. Each pool gets a different blend of scalding spring water and cold river water, and the two do not always mix evenly, so you often feel hot and cold currents swirling around you. Finding the right spot takes some trial and error. Moving a rock or two to let in more river water is normal practice.

There is no fixed temperature. It changes with the pool, the river level and the season. The source water is far too hot to touch, so test every pool with your hand first.

Above the pools stands the Sunbeam bathhouse, a stone building on a walled concrete platform overlooking the river. Enrollees of the Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Clayton built it in 1937. The Forest Service marker beside it calls it a tribute to CCC craftsmanship. The building fell into disrepair during the war years and is no longer used for bathing; it is kept as a historic site. There is another interpretive sign nearby called “The Boiling Fountain,” and the Sunbeam Dam site is about 0.7 miles away.

The water is clear with a slight odour. The pullout has a restroom and changing room, which few free springs in Idaho can offer.

Getting there

Sunbeam is on Idaho Highway 75, the Salmon River Scenic Byway, in the northeast corner of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

• From Stanley: Drive northeast, then east, on Highway 75 along the Salmon River toward Sunbeam and Clayton. The bathhouse and pullout are on the river side of the road, just west of the Yankee Fork Road junction at Sunbeam. It is about 13 miles and 20 minutes from town.
• From Challis: Take Highway 75 west through Clayton and up the Salmon River canyon. The springs come up shortly after you pass the Yankee Fork turnoff.

The road is paved and plowed in winter. Parking is a pullout beside the highway. It fills on summer afternoons, so if it is full, do not park on the shoulder in a way that blocks traffic. Come back later or try one of the other springs on this stretch.

From the pullout, steps and a short path lead down to the pools. Expect wet, uneven rock at the river’s edge.

When to go

Spring runoff (roughly May and June) is the worst time. The Salmon rises and can partly or fully cover the pools.

Mid to late summer is when the pools are rebuilt and the river is low. It is also when Sunbeam is most crowded. One long-time reviewer found the pullout and pools packed on visits in May and July, and rates summer use as extreme. Go early in the morning or on a weekday.

Fall is a good compromise: lower water, fewer people and cold air that makes the hot water feel better. As the river gets colder late in the season, the pools can end up too cool. The same reviewer found them too cold to soak in November.

Winter is possible, since Highway 75 stays open, but winters in the Stanley basin are long and very cold. Ice on the steps and rocks is the main hazard, and the pools can be half frozen at the edges.

Rules and etiquette

• Free. No fee, no permit.
• Swimsuits required. Sawtooth National Forest Order 0414-00-033 bans public nudity on all national forest land and roads in the Sawtooth from September 9, 2026, to September 9, 2031. The pools are on forest land and in plain view of the highway.
• No soap or shampoo, including biodegradable products.
• Share the pools. This is a busy roadside spring. Do not monopolise a pool for hours when people are waiting.
• Leave the bathhouse alone. It is a historic structure. Do not climb on it or carve into it.
• No glass near the pools. Broken glass and bare feet do not mix.
• Pack out trash. Use the restroom at the pullout.

Where to stay nearby

There is no camping at the springs, but there are several Forest Service campgrounds nearby.

• Upper and Lower O’Brien Campgrounds (Sawtooth National Forest) are a few miles east of Sunbeam on the river. Both are first come, first served. You claim a site in person and can pay through the Recreation.gov app using the QR code on site.
• Yankee Fork campgrounds (Salmon-Challis National Forest) are up the Yankee Fork Road from Sunbeam. Pole Flat Campground overlooks the river and dredge ponds and takes trailers up to 32 feet.
• Highway 75 between Stanley and Sunbeam has more Forest Service campgrounds along the river.
• Stanley, about 20 minutes west, has motels, cabins and lodges, plus fuel and food.

Safety notes

• Scalding water: The springs and the channels feeding the pools are very hot. Keep kids and dogs away from the source and test every pool before getting in.
• The river: The Salmon is cold and fast, especially in early summer. Do not let children play at the edge of the pools on the river side, and do not swim out from the pools.
• Footing: Rocks at the waterline are slick. Wear water shoes.
• Traffic: You are right next to a highway. Watch for cars when you step out of your vehicle and when you cross back to it.
• Cold: Nights near Stanley drop below freezing for much of the year. Bring warm, dry clothes to change into in the restroom.

Nearby stops worth adding

Highway 75 east of Stanley has a run of roadside springs, and many people stop at two or three in an afternoon. Closer to Stanley, Basin Creek Hot Springs has small rock pools near the Basin Creek bridge, and Cove Creek Hot Springs, also called Kem, is next to it. The Yankee Fork Road north from Sunbeam leads to the Yankee Fork gold dredge and the ghost towns of Bonanza and Custer. Back in Stanley, Mountain Village Resort has a geothermal soak for guests.