Hot Water

Today we visited the Belknap Hot Springs, about an hour east of Eugene, Oregon. This place features a pool heated by water from a 198-degree spring. We didn't swim in the pool, but we did walk around the gardens and pools which were quite something. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area, especially if you like large maple leaves.

Our primary destination was the Terwilliger Hot Springs, which we have enjoyed before. It consists of about five pools of varying temperatures situated on the side of a hill along a creek. It's a gorgeous place and also definitely worth a visit.

Last time we were there, the temperatures ranged from way too hot to just right to tepid. This time they ranged from almost hot enough to--well I don't know what they ranged to because we never left the hottest of the pools. Evidently the recent rains had caused more cool ground water to mix with the hot-springs water. The key seems to be to visit when it hasn't been raining recently.

Terwilliger Springs is near the Cougar Reservoir which features a $52M temperature-control intake tower that allows the reservoir manager to control the temperature of the water released from the dam by regulating which levels in the lake the water is taken from. The goal is to keep the water close to the temperature that it would be if the dam were not there. In Oregon they spare no expense when it comes to keeping their salmon happy.