Carson Hot Springs Resort

What to expect

Carson Hot Springs Resort is an old-fashioned bathhouse that has stayed old-fashioned on purpose. It sits in a small valley beside the Wind River, a short way above where the river meets the Columbia, on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. The resort describes itself as the opposite of glitz, and that is fair. Come for the baths and the history, not for a polished day spa.

The core experience is the bath and wrap. You are given a private clawfoot tub in the old bathhouse (the resort dates it to 1923 on one page and the 1930s on another), filled with mineral water pumped straight from the springs and left unchlorinated. The water comes out of the ground at roughly 110-126°F43-52°C, so you add cold spring water until it suits you. After 25 minutes in the tub, an attendant wraps you in hot linens and you lie still for another 25 minutes. Many people add a massage. The water smells of sulfur and the resort describes it as sulfur-rich.

The bathhouse is separated by gender and clothing is optional inside it. If you want to soak with a partner, use the therapy pool instead: a large shared pool of chlorinated spring water held at about 104°F40°C, with a small cold plunge beside it. Swimsuits are required there.

Everything spa-related is for adults. The resort says guests under 18 are not allowed in the bathhouse or soaking tubs, and every spa service requires guests to be 18 or older.

The pools and baths

• Bathhouse tubs. Private clawfoot tubs, unchlorinated spring water, gender-separated rooms, clothing optional. Choose the 25-minute soak plus 25-minute wrap, or a 50-minute soak with no wrap.
• Therapy pool. Communal, chlorinated, about 104°F40°C, swimsuits required. A cold plunge fed by a spring averaging about 60°F16°C sits beside it. Day visitors get up to two hours a day.
• Balcony hot tubs. Some deluxe rooms and suites have a private hot tub on the balcony, filled with spring water and kept around 104°F40°C.
• Sauna. A dry sauna is part of the spa.

Getting there

The resort is at 372 St. Martin’s Springs Road in Carson, a small unincorporated town in Skamania County.

• From Portland: Take I-84 east along the Oregon side of the Gorge to Cascade Locks, cross the Columbia on the Bridge of the Gods toll bridge, and turn right (east) on Washington State Route 14. Pass Stevenson and turn north into Carson, then follow signs to the resort. Allow about an hour from central Portland without traffic.
• From Vancouver, WA: Follow SR 14 east the whole way up the Gorge, through Washougal and North Bonneville.
• From Hood River: Cross the Hood River Bridge to White Salmon and head west on SR 14 to Carson.

All roads are paved. Overnight guests park free, and limited RV parking (no hookups) is $45 a night.

When to go

The resort is open all year. Gorge weather shapes the visit more than the season does. Winter brings rain, wind and occasional snow, and a hot bath feels best then. Summer is warm and dry and the trails and waterfalls up the Wind River valley are at their best.

Weekdays are quieter and cheaper: day-use and bath prices both go up Friday through Sunday. Bathhouse tickets stop at 7 p.m., so do not arrive late in the evening expecting a bath.

Prices and booking

Prices below are the resort’s listed rates and exclude tax. They can change without notice.

• Bath and wrap: $30 Monday to Thursday, $35 Friday to Sunday. A punch card gives a free bath and wrap after ten.
• Therapy pool day use: $12 Monday to Thursday, $17 Friday to Sunday, two hours maximum per day. Free for overnight guests.
• Massages and treatments: booked separately through the spa.

Book baths and massages by calling the front desk at 509-427-8296 or through the online appointment link on the resort’s site. The front desk is staffed from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Rooms are booked online. The minimum age to check in is 18, there is a $100 to $250 incidental hold depending on the room, and cancellations are free until 48 hours before arrival unless you booked a non-refundable rate.

Where to stay nearby

• On site: Standard rooms in the cabin building, deluxe rooms and suites. Some have balconies with hot tubs of spring water, kitchenettes or fireplaces. The resort says kids 12 and under stay free in existing beds. Isadore’s Kitchen + Bar, at the Elk Ridge Golf Course clubhouse next door, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• Stevenson, a few miles west on SR 14, has more restaurants and the large Skamania Lodge. Backwoods Brewing is in Carson itself.
• Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa in North Bonneville, about 12 miles west, is the other spring-fed resort in this part of the Gorge, and it allows children in its indoor pool. See Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa.
• Campgrounds in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest line the Wind River Road north of Carson, and Beacon Rock State Park, west of North Bonneville, has a campground on the Columbia.

Nearby on the Wind River, Shipherd’s Hot Springs is the site of an old hotel that burned around 1930. It is not part of the resort, and there is no public soaking there today. For a private geothermal tub without the bathhouse, Tenzen Cabins + Springs in Home Valley rents cabins with their own tubs.

Safety notes

• Heat. The tubs start much hotter than a normal bath. Add cold water before you get in, keep the first soak short and drink water. The wrap that follows keeps your body temperature up, so get up slowly.
• Sulfur. The smell is normal. It can tarnish silver jewelry, so leave it in your room.
• Health conditions. If you are pregnant or have heart or blood pressure problems, ask a doctor before a long hot soak and wrap.

History

The resort tells its own origin story: Isadore St. Martin found the springs in 1876 while hunting, filed a homestead claim, and began building facilities in 1897. Local history accounts date his discovery a few years later, to around 1880, and record that he was killed in 1910 and his family kept the resort going afterwards. The hotel building was finished in 1901 and is still in use, and the cabins and bathhouse were added in 1923. The property took the name Carson Hot Springs in the early 1970s and has changed hands several times since.