Natural Hot Springs - Big Mountain Views

4.09.2009
View from the top

Stanley, Idaho is well-known for being a tad chilly. It has even been, at times, the coldest place in the United States. My good friend that works at Denali National Park will surely contest this.

Mtn Village Hot SpringsSo, you might be thinking - why on Earth would anyone want to spend spring break in such a place? Well, for starters, Stanley is quiet and engulfed by the mighty Sawtooth Mountains. Other benefits include: hot springs (of course), lack of people, snowshoeing, incredible scenery, wildlife and yes - homemade blackberry pie (this one was a bonus).

One evening spent soaking and gazing at the Sawtooths involved watching a live episode of the playful coyote. In this episode, the coyote romped and rolled around in crunchy snow amongst a gaggle of nervous Canadian Geese. Much better than any talk box show I could think of.

This particular natural hot springs is rather deluxe, and is only available to guests of the Mountain Village Resort. Which I ended up calling 'Mountain View' a few times in the video clip. It's rather difficult not to think 'Mountain View' up in Stanley when surrounded by the majestic Sawtooth Mountains.

Mtn Village Hot Springs

In a nutshell; staying at the Mountain Village Resort was better than expected thanks to friendly staff, clean rooms and good food (homemade pie!). I can also imagine that cleaning up their guest-use hot springs facilities is quite the chore. I thought it was rare to see a garbage can at a hot springs. Despite the presence of the receptacle, many guests still opted to throw their trash everywhere else. One would hope that those visiting areas like this would be least likely to be trash mongers. One would hope.

Here's the skinny on Mountain Village Resort; includes additional pictures and video.

Stanley, Idaho Map


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References

Sawtooth Mountains on Wikipedia

Stanley, Idaho Chamber of Commerce

Stanley Idaho on Wikipedia

[where: Stanley, ID]

2 comments:

Liz Amason said...

I've been living in Western Idaho since 1991, and haven't partaken of the beautiful Stanley area. Looking forward to updates on your blog.

HSG said...

Hi Liz,

Thanks for the comments, kind words and widget embed on your cool blog! I made sure to add you to my blogroll, and am looking forward to your updates as well!

Best,