Starkey Hot Springs

What to expect

Starkey Hot Springs is a piece of Adams County history first and a soaking spot second. The springs rise beside the Weiser River in the valley north of Council, and for more than a century they have fed a series of resorts, private pools and, more recently, a bottled water business.

The water is hot. A 2014 Idaho Business Review report put the flow at about 650 million gallons a year of 132°F56°C geothermal water, which is far too hot to soak in straight from the source. It is cooled before it reaches the pool. No current official pool temperature is published.

What you find on the ground, according to that report: an outdoor pool, three cabins, and the stone remains of a 7,000 square foot lodge from the resort era. The Weiser River and the Weiser River Trail both pass through the property.

A note on access. Starkey is private property, not a public park or a national forest spring, and the rules for visitors have shifted with each owner. A previous owner, Evelyn Snyder, kept the pool closed to the general public but let trusted groups such as the local school district use it. When she sold in 2013, she required the buyer to keep the pool open for local residents. In 2014 about a dozen people were swimming there daily and school groups still came, but the owner said it had no plans to turn the springs into a tourist attraction. We could not find an official current schedule or price list. Contact the property before you plan a trip around it, and do not walk in uninvited.

History

The springs were known as Biggerstaff Hot Springs before Dr. Starkey arrived. In March 1905 the Weiser Semi-Weekly Signal reported that a Dr. Starkey of Spokane had bought them and planned a two-story hotel and sanitarium, 40 by 80 feet, at the larger spring. The Idaho Business Review names him as Dr. Richard Starkey, a dentist and physician, and dates the opening of his resort to 1906. He went on to build a sanitarium and a dance pavilion. A post office named Starkey served the settlement from 1906 to 1943.

The Starkey family gave up the property in 1918. Over the following decades it remained a local swimming spot, and older residents of the area remember swimming there as children and teenagers. The Idaho State Archives hold a small Starkey Hot Springs collection, with a postcard photograph, a letterhead and a printed description from the resort’s past.

In 2013 Whole Foods, through its Allegro Coffee subsidiary, bought the springs, about 220 acres and some water rights. It bottled the water as Starkey Spring Water at a plant in Council, about eight miles away, and began selling it in one-liter glass bottles at its Boise store in September 2014. Ownership and operations may have changed since that report.

Getting there

Starkey is in the Weiser River valley north of Council, on the old Starkey locality beside Fruitvale Glendale Road.

• From Council: Drive north on US-95 for about 4.5 miles, then turn onto Fruitvale Glendale Road and follow it about 4.5 miles to Starkey. The whole drive is roughly 9 miles.
• From McCall or New Meadows: Head south on US-95 toward Council and pick up Fruitvale Glendale Road near Fruitvale.
• From Boise: Take US-95 north through Weiser and Cambridge to Council, then follow the directions above. Council is the last town with full services.

The Weiser River Trail is the other way in. The rail trail runs about 84 miles from Weiser to Rubicon, near New Meadows, through Midvale, Cambridge and Council, and it passes through the Starkey property. OpenStreetMap shows a Starkey Trailhead close by, with a free gravel parking area, a portable toilet and a bench. Stay on the trail where it crosses private land.

When to go

There is no published season or schedule. Summer and early fall are the easy months to be in the area: the Weiser River Trail is dry, and the drive up US-95 is straightforward. In winter the valley gets snow and cold, and the gravel side roads can be slick.

Whenever you go, call or message the property first. That is the only reliable way to learn whether the pool is open, at what hours, and to whom.

Rules and etiquette

• Private property. Do not enter without permission. The trail corridor is public; the land around it is not.
• Swimsuits. This is a pool used by local families and school groups. Wear a suit.
• Follow posted rules. Any pool rules on site, such as showering first or limits on food and drink, come from the owner. Follow them.
• Leave the ruins alone. The stone lodge remains are part of the area’s history. Do not climb on them.
• Respect the trail. If you come on the Weiser River Trail, keep to the trail and close any gates you pass through.

Where to stay nearby

There is no confirmed lodging at the springs for visitors.

• Council, about 9 miles south, has motels, fuel, groceries and food.
• New Meadows and McCall to the north have a much wider choice of hotels, cabins and rentals.
• Payette National Forest campgrounds are spread through the mountains east and west of Council.
• Weiser River Trail users can check the Friends of the Weiser River Trail website, which lists the Wye Campground and shuttle and lodging resources along the route.

Safety notes

• Hot source water: At about 132°F56°C, the spring water can scald. Stay out of any channels, pipes or outflows that are not part of the pool.
• Children: Supervise kids at the pool and near the Weiser River, which can run fast and cold in spring.
• Ruins: Old stone walls can be unstable.
• Rural roads: Watch for farm equipment and livestock on Fruitvale Glendale Road and US-95.

Nearby stops worth adding

If Starkey is not taking visitors when you pass, there are public springs in the same corner of Idaho. Council Mountain Hot Springs is a chain of small rock pools along Warm Spring Creek, about a 2-mile hike from a Payette National Forest trailhead near Council. Farther north, Zim’s Hot Springs near New Meadows is a commercial hot springs pool. The Weiser River Trail itself is worth a few hours on a bike, with old railroad trestles along the river.