POST #7 -- Maple Grove Hot Springs

Still days away from being able to move in to my on-campus accommodations at Utah State University, I resolved to find myself an interesting outpost of rural/wild Utah to enjoy for a few days.  Little did I imagine that I'd find just the right spot... in Idaho.  Yup.  In Thatcher, Idaho, to be exact.

What I found was Maple Grove Hot Springs... a natural hot springs in the midst of a way, way out there corner of this very scenic part of south-east Idaho.
Check it out at:   http://www.maplegrovehotsprings.com/contact.html

Thatcher isn't a town.  It's simply an address that's attached to Maple Grove Hot Springs.
The nearest town is Grace, about 10 miles away from the hot springs.  To get there, I drove north on the very scenic Hwy 91 to the nearest 'big' town of Preston, home of the Famous Preston Night Rodeo.
(Yes, that's really what they call it, even though it may not be famous to you... and even though most of the rodeo occurs during the day.  Go figure.  The rodeo occurs in late July.  Watch for a month-end Post.)

An hour after leaving Logan, I had arrived at Maple Grove Hot Springs.

Guests may choose from seven 'unimproved campsites', i.e., a patch of ground and a picnic table.  Or they can stay in one of two very tired, but oozing-with-charm 1950s vintage trailers.  Too upscale for me, those trailers.  So I opted for a campsite, set up my tent, unfolded my 'clown bike', and settled in for 3 days and 2 nights.

Maple Hot Springs is clearly 'off the grid.'  No wi-fi.  No e-mailing. No Blogging.  But very good mineral water. And very big dogs.  Enormous.  Mastiffs.  Two of 'em.  (Ever seen a mastiff up close?  Ever ridden one?)

Insofar as it was peak summer season, I found myself sharing the 32-acre hot springs with... just one (!) couple.  From Salt Lake City.  We didn't mingle much.  And in fact, we were both able to feel that we had the entire place to ourselves.  

I was able to enjoy a lot of easy recreation and relaxation in a most beautiful spot, brimming with wildlife.  (I'd never seen a white, fresh water pelican before.)  Each of the 3 hot springs pools offers a different temperature so that I didn't need to soak in water that was "too Hot" or "too Cold".  I could get it "just right."  And I did, starting each day with an early morning soak, and ending each day with another soak under sparkling star-filled skies. 

During the day, I read and walked... and soaked some more.  
And I rode my bike the 3 miles along the riverside dirt rode to the Oneida Narrows Dam.  

I even got out on the water each day, enjoying some leisurely paddling on the river in the Maple Grove canoe.