Hot springs in Montana

Between Helena and Butte in the Boulder Valley, this historic inn sells day visitors the whole place for one price: an outdoor pool at 96-100 degrees, indoor plunges at 103-106, steam rooms and dressing rooms. It runs as an alcohol, drug and smoke-free property, so leave the cooler in the car. You'll shower before you get in, there's no lifeguard, and kids under 12 need an adult with them. Day use runs 10am to 8pm every day. Come on a weekday and adults pay $12 rather than $14, and if you'll be back, the 10-pass costs the price of 9.

Twelve pools, from a bracing 57 degrees to 106, sit 8 miles west of Bozeman on US 191, open from 5:30am most days. Four are outdoors with rock features, lighting and a stage; the hottest and coldest are indoors beside a steam room and sauna. The indoor pools are drained nightly and not chlorinated, while the three main outdoor pools are. Weekday adults pay $28, or $21 with a Montana ID, so bring one if you have it. Friday closes at sundown and Saturday opens at sundown, so check the calendar before a weekend visit. Lightning within 10 miles shuts the pools. Towels and lockers are free.

Paradise Valley's grand old soak sits 30 miles north of Yellowstone's north entrance, with two open-air pools of geothermal water: the big one averages 96 degrees, the small one 103, with no chemicals or sulfur added. Day guests are welcome 8am to 11pm every day, which makes this an easy evening stop on the way back from the park. Adults pay $14 and seniors 65+ just $8; towels rent for $2.50. If you'd rather not drive afterwards, stay the night. Lodging runs from the historic main lodge to cabins, chalets and, yes, Conestoga wagons.

Read this before you drive: Fairmont's pools are open only to overnight resort guests and members, 7am to 10pm, and no day pass is sold. Guests get a lot of water, with a 164 by 59 foot outdoor pool and a 128 by 45 foot indoor pool at 88-94 degrees, hot pools at 100-104, an adult soaking pool, a family soaking pool and a cold plunge around 65. The 350-foot enclosed waterslide, five stories tall, is closed through Thanksgiving 2026 while a pool renovation is finished. The indoor pools also close November 1-6, so check the dates when you book a room.

Down in the Clark Fork canyon at Paradise, Quinn's runs seven pools: five natural flow-through pools from 100 to 106 degrees with a 55-degree plunge, and two salt-treated pools in the upper 90s. Book before you go. Every day-use swimmer needs an online reservation for one of three four-hour sessions, starting 8am, noon and 4pm. Pools are split by age, with pool 1 for 18 and over; under-fives stay out of anything above 100, and there's no lifeguard. From October 1, 2026 it's $21 Monday to Thursday and $23 Friday to Sunday. Cabin and lodge guests soak 8am to 10pm, with adults-only hours either side.

Way up on the Hi-Line between Malta and Saco, opposite Nelson Reservoir, Sleeping Buffalo began as the American Legion Health Resort in 1929, built with rock from the same quarries as Fort Peck Dam. The water rises at 108 degrees from an artesian well 3,200 feet deep and feeds indoor and outdoor pools, including a 60 by 80 foot indoor main pool, plus a hot tub, a cold plunge and a sauna. They don't publish admission prices online, so call (406) 527-3320. It's well over four hours from Bozeman, so stay a night: there are cabins, suites, an RV park and a steakhouse and saloon.

On the bank of the Yellowstone River, 8 miles north of the park's north entrance, this soaking spot has a hot pool at 103-105 degrees, a main pool at 98-100, a 60-65 degree cold plunge and a Kneipp walk. Admission is an all-day pass with re-entry, so you can soak in the morning, head into the park and come back for another round. It's closed Mondays and otherwise open 9am to 9pm. Adults pay $18 and children 0-3 are free. Next door there are suites, cabins, tent sites and an RV park, and campers get $5 off the soak.

In the small Big Hole Valley town of Jackson, this lodge pairs a chemical-free geothermal pool at 100-106 degrees with rooms, a restaurant and a bar, which covers most of what a long valley evening needs. Two rules decide the trip. Children five and under are not allowed in the hot spring, by state law, and the lodge says so in capitals. And the property is closed to the public midweek, with the pool open Monday only from 8 to 10am. Plan for Thursday through Sunday, when it opens by 10am and stays open until 11pm. Adults pay $12, children $9.

The Lewis and Clark party came through here on September 13, 1805, and there's been a resort since 1885, on US 12 below Lolo Pass. The indoor pool runs 104-106 degrees in summer, and the larger outdoor pool that runs 78-85 in summer and cools to 74-78 in winter, so in January the real soak is indoors. Day passes are first-come, first-served, with adults at $16 and under-5s free. It's open until midnight on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and until 10pm otherwise. Camp across the road, or book a deluxe cabin, which comes with two day passes.

Just below Lost Trail Pass at the top of the Bitterroot Valley, this resort has a 20 by 70 foot spring-fed pool averaging 95 degrees, with a 9-foot deep end that shallows to a 10-inch wading section for small children. Add a hot tub at 103-105 and a dry sauna; in winter a dome goes over the pool. The catch is the hours. It opens three or four days a week depending on season, Friday through Sunday for most of the year, so call before you drive. Bring cash, since adults pay $10 and cards add 3 percent. The lodges are named for Sacajawea and Meriwether Lewis.

On Main Street in White Sulphur Springs, this motel puts three pools on its mineral water: a 10 by 15 foot indoor plunge around 105 degrees, an outdoor pool usually cooled to 98 and a newer outdoor pool at 103. All three are drained every night and refilled with untreated water high in sulphur, magnesium and lithium. It's open 365 days a year, 7am to 10pm, so it works as a stop on US 89 whenever you're passing. Adults pay $16 and children 3-5 pay $10. Rooms and the Tenderfoot Cabins are on site, and the motel is pet friendly.

A historic hotel in a town called, helpfully, Hot Springs, with three outdoor pools: a hot pool averaging about 107 degrees, a lower pool near 101 and a swimming pool near 95. Day soakers are welcome every day, and hotel guests get the pools included. The rules are worth knowing before you pack: no glass, smoking, music, food or animals in the pool area, and children must stay in the same pool area as an adult at all times. Adults pay $15. Staying in the valley a while? The 10-swim punch pass is $70. Towels rent for $2.

Helena's hot springs doubles as a gym, and one day rate covers both: five hot pools, two cool pools for contrast therapy, a sauna and steam room, fitness classes and the weights. Upstairs, the Springs pools range from 57 to 104 degrees. Downstairs, the Soaker pools run 97-102 with 50-59 degree cold plunges and a waterfall. The big 89-93 degree recreation pool is listed as closed, so don't promise the kids laps. Monday to Thursday is the cheaper stretch, with adults at $17 against $22 from Friday. A taproom and grill handle the afterwards, and every admission is final sale.

One pool, built simply: a 40 by 40 foot tub of locally milled fir planks laid straight over the spring, which flows at 80 gallons a minute and comes out at 129 degrees. The water stays below 100 in summer and climbs to 106 in winter, and the pool is drained nightly and pressure-washed weekly without chemicals. Weekend evenings bring live music from the dome. Go Thursday through Monday, 10am to 10pm: Tuesday is cleaning day and Wednesday is for private bookings. The cafe means no outside food or alcohol. Adults pay $12, and they only close for named storms.