Gotta plan ahead to visit The Springs in Idaho City! Stay overnight at Inn the Pines

The Springs pool at night (Courtesy The Springs)

The Springs during the day ... please note that the pool is reserved for adults on Wed-Fri each week. (Courtesy The Springs)

Hi all, 

It's a little exasperating how challenging it can be to book pool time at The Springs in Idaho City. I would readily admit that I don't necessarily like to plan ahead that much, but I have learned that if you want to book some pool time at The Springs, you MUST plan ahead! Two weeks or more! That's just the deal! 

Two friends of ours, Greg and Jan, booked a private pool for all four of us at The Springs last week (booked a month in advance), and we also booked rooms at Inn the Pines. We really enjoyed our time up there. 

The private pools are $45/hour, and hotel rooms are about $115/night. They have package deals. 

The snow is deep in Idaho City, too! But it's melting! Consider doing a hike in Charcoal Gulch before soaking. 

We went up on a Wednesday, so I had some work-related things to clear in the first half of the day. Then we got up to Idaho City in time to do a little boot hike on Charcoal Gulch Trail just outside of town before our leisurely soak at The Springs. The snow was brick-hard, so we didn't even need to deploy our snowshoes ... just cruised around on top of the snow in our snow boots. The trail is located next to the Idaho City airport on the south side of town ... try it sometime. 

Our private pool was booked for 4:30 p.m. We showed up at 4 p.m. to hang in the main pool before going into our private quarters. We had a beer and relaxed while the sun began to shine through the clouds for the first time in days. The Springs has pool-side service, so that's a plus in my book. They seem to really emphasize customer service, and that must be why The Springs has become so popular! 

The private pool was a perfect size for 2 or 4 people. It's a little cozy with 4, but if they're good friends or family, it works fine! You have total privacy in that space, so suits are optional. You can bring drinks and food into the private pools. But they will only serve you one drink while you're in the private pool FYI. 

The private tubs are warmer than the main pool ... I would guess they keep them in the 102-103 degree range. It felt just about perfect to us. 

After you've had your private pool session, you can hang in the main pool as long as you want. We were pretty pruned after about 2 hours of soaking, so we back to the Inn the Pines to change for dinner. The locker rooms at The Springs are very nice, BTW, they have complimentary lockers that come with your swimming pass, and nice showers. 

We thought the rooms at Inn the Pines were really nice. The hotel was just built a year ago or so, so everything seems almost brand new. They have cable TV and wifi in the rooms, even though there is barely any cell service in Idaho City, so that's another plus. I had some work-related things I had to send out by email in the morning. That worked without a hitch.  

We had dinner and breakfast at Trudy's Kitchen. We should have had dinner at the Gold Mine or Diamond Lil's, most likely, because they specialize in serving dinner. But Trudy's makes good burgers and has good breakfast. Here's the Trip Advisor rundown for Idaho City restaurants. 

All in all, we heartily recommend soaking at The Springs and staying at Inn the Pines. All you have to do is plan ahead!!! Combining the soaking experience with a fun day of skiing by Mores Creek Summit or at the Idaho City Park and Ski Areas would be the ultimate home run day, in my book. 

In the weeks ahead, it also would be a fun home run day to do the Banks-Lowman drive to see elk down by the road and Payette River, and then hit the Springs in Idaho City late in the afternoon. Stay overnight and relax! 

If you want to soak at The Springs, go online and reserve a time for your group. The reservations system lets you see what's available on a given day online. Pick what works for you! 

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On another subject matter, during Spring Break week the lower trails in the Boise Foothills dried out and people were out using the trails in droves! Huge numbers of cars at the trailheads! Just wanted to remind folks to be aware that the the trails could get muddy this weekend if we get substantial amounts of rain. Please pay attention to the Ridge to Rivers web site or Facebook page for the latest updates! 

- SS