Once a popular Idaho hot springs hangout, this site will remain closed through 2027
Once a popular hot springs hangout an hour north of Boise, the site formerly known as Skinny Dipper Hot Springs will remain closed until at least 2027 under a new closure order set to begin on Valentine’s Day.
The Bureau of Land Management closed the site in 2017 over concerns about public safety and environmental damage. People had installed PVC pipes to regulate the flow of hot and cold water, poured concrete liners and plugged up exit points to create the soaking pools. The agency, which manages the land where Skinny Dipper was, had removed most of the materials before rock slides covered the rest of the former hot springs.
In July, the Bureau of Land Management announced its intent to renew the five-year closure order, citing continued concerns about health, safety and damage to the environment. According to a recent notice in the Federal Register, the new order will go into effect on Feb. 14 and continue through February 2027.
Brent Ralston, field manager for the bureau’s Four Rivers Field Office, told the Idaho Statesman that the Bureau of Land Management typically doesn’t issue citations to people trespassing on closure areas until the formal notice has been published in the Federal Register. Still, Ralston said, bureau law enforcement “prefer to warn and work to correct behavior first, and usually only escalate to citations with repeated or excessive offenses.”
Last summer, Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Mike Williamson told the Statesman the former hot springs site had been “obliterated” by a fire and rockslide. Though the bureau had previously weighed the idea of returning some type of recreation to the area, Williamson said in July that the future of the former Skinny Dipper area is unclear.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 11:46 AM.
