Scenic Hot Springs at Stevens Pass - Washington, USA [N47 42.531 W121 08.272]

Scenic Hot Springs at Stevens Pass
Washington, USA

MAP: N47 42.531 W121 08.272
Coordinates from: C/O Hiking & Soaking in the Western U.S. & Canada

Photo By: Rick
Scroll down for more photos and info below from Rick.

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LINKS
More info about Stevens Pass Hot-Springs. Friday, December 26, 2008 Scenic Hot Springs Conditions From BangedUpShins's Site "nudehiker.blogspot.com"
http://nudehiker.blogspot.com/2008/12/scenic-hot-springs-conditions.html

http://scenichotsprings.blogspot.com/

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More IHS - Scenic Hot Springs in Washington

 

Replies to This Discussion

Reply by Rick on January 3, 2009 at 6:49pm

Scenic Hot Springs is a natural hot spring located on a private property in-holding within the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest. It is located approximately six miles southwest of Stevens Pass and twelve miles east of Skykomish, WA . . . along the Hwy 2 corridor. The springs, themselves, are a mile and a half hike from the highway.

During the 90s the springs were heavily developed with elaborate pools (four of them) and deckwork on the steep, forested slopes by a group of people later coming to call themselves the "Friends of Scenic Hot Springs". All this construction was done without the explicit knowledge or consent of the absentee property owner (or so they say . . . there is some evidence that the owner simply acquiesced and took advantage to soak there himself when he was in town). During the later years of the 90's Scenic became very popular with the urbane set (mainly because it was so easy to reach). What followed the huge numbers of visitors were assaults, attempted rapes, binge drinking drug use, car vandalism, and a number of high-profile search and rescue missions to locate and save lost hikers who were too incapacitated to know where they were going. The King County Sheriff's Department was making an average of two emergency calls to Scenic Hot Springs every day.

In October of 2001 King County had had enough. The construction on the sensitive wetlands and steep slopes of the mountain was done with no reviews or permits. The county issued a Code Enforcement Action to the property owner, who promptly declared that he had no knowledge that such illegal activity was taking place on his property. He quickly agreed to post the property. The next day, deputies raided the hot springs and threatened everyone there with criminal trespass arrest if they did not leave promptly and stay away. A few days later, deputies again returned with chainsaws and sledgehammers. They destroyed the beautiful deckwork and pools. Only the Monster Pool survived their frenzy simply because that pool was constructed of 65 tons of concrete firmly anchored into the bedrock of the slope. The destruction and debris sat fallow on those slopes for the next few years with only a few diehard visitors sneaking in under the radar.

My friend and probably the foremost expert on natural hot springs in North America, Mike Sato, bought the property in 2004 with the understanding and expectation to the former owner that the springs would eventually be reopened to the public. I have been working with Mike ever since to navigate the complicated and expensive bureaucratic maze ever since. We are getting close. Eventually Mike hopes to model Scenic somewhat after Meager Creek . . . natural stone-work pools in natural surroundings, the minimum of facilities (changing rooms, latrine) and a caretaker to keep activities under control. There will eventually be a modest charge for the use of the hot springs. Scenic will remain a clothing-optional place.

As of this writing, Scenic is closed to public access . . . that is necessary to show the county we can control access and stop illegal activities. One pool remains and provides a stellar soak. The debris as been removed from the slopes ans staged for disposal. Access at this moment is by invitation only . . . and generally to those who participate in cleanup activities. The Friends of Scenic and the Scenic Preservation Association do not exist anymore. More information can be found at http://scenichotsprings.blogspot.com

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  Reply by GuyThaLizard on January 3, 2009 at 9:48pm

Thanks Rick for the great info and photos. It's a shame all the problems that have come about with the springs hopefully people will realize the importance of taking care of the environment with the recent actions taken.

Take care, Thanks again for the contribution!
Guy

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Reply by Doug on January 6, 2009 at 9:33pm

I agree with you Guy.

Unfortunately we are beginning to see similar closures here in BC. Places like St Leon, Ram Creek, etc are slowly feeling the pressures of abuse by a select group of people.

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Reply by HSG on January 13, 2009 at 4:41pm

Scenic is in the best possible hands it could be in. I wish all of our hot springs had guardians like you guys.

Here in Idaho (man do I get sick of starting sentences that way), we just lost Molly's Tubs and potentially Rocky Canyon. In both cases, the forest service has elected to restore the springs to more natural conditions due to continued abuse.

It's always a tough call. I think both instances can have positive outcomes: restoring both to more natural settings sounds pretty good to me, as long as they don't destroy the environment in the process. The tubs at Molly's were a mess, would often get smashed up or dilapidated and left to rot. Massive mortar improvements at Rocky has garnered attention from young ORVers and hunters that like to party hard.

However, some good news here, Skinnydipper's 'Keepers' have managed to keep the springs open, somewhat safe and maintained. Here, Keepers continuously recruit new Keepers - swelling their numbers. However, this creates a group w/o balance.... some new recruits have been allegedly pushing the limits.

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