Wyoming Hot Springs

in Thermopolis

Our Wyoming Hot Springs adventure took us to Thermopolis Wyoming. This is where you will find the Hot Springs State Park, with hiking, spots to soak, and relaxed fun for the family.

This was the view from atop Monument Mountain. This was a great hike for the family, quick, with a fabulous view at the top. It was a bit steep for the short distance...it's pretty much straight UP!

This picture shows the mineral pools along the 'terraces', before the mineral water cascades into the river. The terraces are a bit smelly, the mineral water gives off the aroma of...sulphur. However, it's supposed to be very good for your skin and body to soak in warm mineral pools. The ones pictured are not for soaking...but there are several locations you can find a soaking pool in the area. Two water parks there have slides and charge to swim, but there is a state bath house with free public access. We were also suprised to find that the Best Western we stayed in, which is also in the park, has a soaking tub with the mineral water piped onto the premises. They also have a chlorine swimming pool, but the soaking tub is mineral water, which generally ranges from 101-105 degrees. SO! The Wyoming Hot Springs Accomodations we chose, and were SUPER happy with was the Best Western, Thermopolis. It is actually within the park, is a renovated historic building, and had the soaking pool. We chose it because it was a one bedroom suite, but allows us to put the kiddos to bed, and continue working or chatting. When we travel with our family, which we do a lot...we like to find somewhere to stay that has a way for us to bring food, and put the kids to bed in a seperate room. This room didn't have a kitchen setup, but they had a refrigerator. That was helpful, since we have food allergies in the family and tend to haul coolers everywhere we travel. In fact, even though Thermopolis is a tiny little town, they have a great health food store with organic, gluten free and allergen labeled food. THAT was a huge find for us!

The primary hike we did at the Wyoming Hot Springs was the Monument Mountain Hike. Like I said it was short, but straight up. We took the 2 year old in the pack, and the 6 year old beat us to the top. The 360 degree view from the top was breathtaking, so we had to share it in a video. We didn't see any buffalo from the top, but we saw a couple of herds in the park when we drove through later, after dinner. There are boardwalks along the hot mineral terraces, and there is a wobbly suspension bridge going over the river, if you have a strong stomach.

The playground next to the terraces turned out to be the best place to have dinner and let the kiddos get some energy out before calling it a night. Everything was SO accessible at this park. We walked everywhere, and had the mineral swimming pools, hikes and playgrounds all within a 5 minute walk. It took us about 6 hours to drive there from Fort Collins, and the weather at the end of August was GREAT!

This trip was a detour for us on the way to our Yellowstone Family Adventure to see all the wildlife. That page has several pictures of the animals we spotted in addition to a video of bison in Yellowstone!

We ended up traveling north and east into Yellowstone National Park, then came home via the south park entrance, through Teton National Park and Jackson Hole

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