This is Idaho!?!? | Goldbug Hot Springs & Twin Peaks Mine

Idaho continues to impress us and we have an awesome day planned exploring the Goldbug Hot Springs and Twin Peaks Mine!

After a great week in Twin Falls, our original plan for the weekend was to go backcountry camping in the Sawtooth Mountains. Unfortunately the smoke is really bad from the wildfires out west so we switched gears on Friday. At first we tried to outrun it and we went north to Salmon but the smoke was just as bad up there.

We ended up booking a great little cabin 30 minutes south of Salmon in the tiny town of Elk Bend for the weekend. We enjoyed a relaxing Saturday but now have some fun things planned for today.

We have learned during our research that Idaho apparently has a lot of hot springs. Today we are visiting one of the more popular ones, the Goldbug Hot Springs and it is just outside the town of Elk Bend where we’re staying.

It is a 4 mile hike round trip and we get started pretty early so we can hopefully avoid some of the crowds. The first section of the hike is private property, but it's open to the public to pass through. The hike begins with a handful of switchbacks, climbing up the side of a hill and after 1/4 mile, we pass through a gate and enter National Forest land. The next 20-30 minutes or so are pretty flat but then it becomes much more steep as we approach the hot springs.

After around 2 miles of hiking, we make it to Goldbug Hot Springs which is comprised of a series of cliffside hot springs that create natural infinity pools, complete with waterfalls and amazing mountain views. We are blown away!

There are a handful of pools, and the temperature varies. Generally, the lower the pool, the cooler the water. We immediately hop into one of the main pools and the water is perfectly warm! It's not too hot where it is uncomfortable, I would compare it to the perfect bath water temperature. It feels amazing because it is around 7AM and the air is still crisp and cool. To make things even better, we are the first ones here so we enjoy the peace and quiet with the hot springs all to ourselves.

After around 30 minutes or so, another group shows up who actually camped here the night before. We hang out and chat with them for a bit longer and then decide to check out some of the other pools. We go down a couple more levels and are able to get a couple other pools to ourselves.

After the perfect morning, we make the 2 mile hike down and head back to our place in Elk Bend. We have been staying at the Twin Peaks Guest Ranch which is up this beautiful valley and we were told there is an old mine about 2 miles further up the valley.

The owner of our place told us that this mine was operational in the late 1800s/ early 1900s and was abandoned in the 1940s. There are no set trails but he gives us some pretyy vague directions and off we go. We take the car as far as it can make it down the very bumpy dirt road and then we continue on foot.

He had told us we will take the 2nd left and continue to hike until we get to a fork and we take a right from there. To be honest, I don't think we ever found the 2nd left but we hiked around for a few hours and were able to find multiple different abandoned and run down buildings that were a part of the old mining operation. It was so cool to just wander around and walk through the different buildings.

After exploring for a few hours, we head back to our car because it is well past lunch time. We head to The Dusty Mule which is right in Elk Bend and admittedly, we had eaten here yesterday as well. They have the best burgers and fries and we end our perfect day with a delicious meal!

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