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.
So, 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.
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]
View Interactive Map of All Commercial Hot Springs in Idaho
