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| Hiking | 6.47 Miles |
793 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.47 Miles | 5 Hrs 19 Mns | | 1.66 mph |
| 793 ft AEG | 1 Hour 25 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: The trail description on HAZ describes the trail from the much less frequented trailhead. This trip starts from the more popular (and more easily accessible) TH along Diamond Creek. I posted my route, but just be aware that it won't match the description :-)
We were up in Utah for the weekend and decided on this as a family friendly hike with my kids and grandkids. We didn't get super early start, and I expected the trail to be busy, but the parking area was already full when we got there. Even so, we managed to squeeze into a "spot" with some creative parking skills. When we came back, we realized that there were much more creative parkers that we were! The parking area can probably manage 15-18 cars comfortably, but as we drove homethere were probably 25+, with probably 20 more uncomfortably (and in several cases, illegally) parked on the side of the road.
In any event, on to the hike ....
The trail starts out following Sixth Water Creek, which was rumbling along beautifully and with a strong flow. The icicles hanging from rocks, logs, etc. were really beautiful.
With the freeze-thaw cycle, and the temps in the 20s when we started, the trail was pretty icy, with several small "ice rinks" along the trail. In our group of 8, we had one pair of Yak Trax among us :-). My daughters ended up splitting the pair and one-footing it along the trail.
The icy conditions made it an adventure to go up and down the hills--there was some butt sliding involved.
About halfway to the spring, we crossed the bridge over Sixth Water Creek, and followed Fifth Water Creek the rest of the way up to the hot springs.
Given the parking area, I expected a zoo at the hot springs. And while there were a lot of people there, I was pleased to find that there were also a lot more pools and soaking places than I anticipated. Definitely no solitude, but you didn't have to be right on top of each other.
Several in our group had decided that they weren't going to get in, but when we actually got there, they couldn't resist the temptation.
The water was very comfortable, and we had a good soak. We had read of others getting skin rashes, but a day later, no one in our group experienced any ill effects.
The hike back was nice and my three grandsons (5, 3, and 2) all did fantastic. We took our time and were out for 5+ hours. The weather was perfect--cold, but clear and without any wind.
A fun place to visit--as long as you prep yourself for a company. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
The parking lot was tiny and it was a madhouse. People were parking way down the street and walking to the TH. It was total chaos!!! I knew there was disbursed camping down towards the end of the road, so I just drove down there to check it out and think for a minute. In any normal situation, I’d immediately leave a trail that busy. Butttt that’s really not an option when you drove that far to an area. There was no service at all down there so I couldn’t really find a backup right in the area. Also, it was freezing and I wanted to soak.
lol ooops. Anyway, I saw the source for the spring… it was boiling! 
