McCall and Hot Springs

Visiting hot springs is a favorite activity

After the Mother’s Day adventure at Mardon RV Resort, we planed to go hot springing in the McCall area. The trip was uneventful, and we stopped at the TA in Huntington for fuel, coffee, and road food. Cheri came back with chicken nuggets which were moist inside and crisp outside. She also brought gizzards which were also well-prepared. The drive was beautiful, but we had to stop at a couple of single lane road construction sites, so it took about 4.5 hours and we were tired when we arrived at McCall.

We discovered problems visiting the hot springs

Unfortunately Burgdorf completely changed the way they do business. Now they only allow guests staying in their primitive (no water, power, or bathroom) “cabins”. However, they now supply a clean sheet to put your personal bedding or sleeping bag on so it doesn’t become dirty. The really outrageous part: they charge $175 per night for a mouse infested primitive hovel.

Another option would have been Gold Fork, but they are closed until later in the year. Yet a third option would have been Zim’s, but the tribe purchased it and the recent reviews on Trip Advisor were horrible. One family said all of them got rashes because the water was green with contaminants.

We opted to do a primitive hot spring called Trail Creek

We decided to go to Trail Creek hot primitive hot springs on the road toward Warm Lake, just outside of Cascade. The drive was a little over an hour each way, but it was pleasant going. The trail down was steel and on an unstable footing for older folks so we were very careful. We made it down without incident, and there were only two people, one in each of the two pools. We went to the farther one, which is the same one we visited when our axle broke a year or so ago. The water was good and we met an affable chap from Boise who was a retired trucker. He is evidently a frequent visitor over the years and told us about the early days at Burgdorf during which one could rise early and go out to a specific spot and see large collections of animals hanging out near the thermal waters. He had plenty of stories.

My funny story was that I was trying to keep my swim trunks dry, and when we left I fell almost fully into the water! Luckily I saved my old phone which I was using as a camera.

Relaxing in McCall and visiting Goose Creek Falls

We spent the next few days relaxing, walking the grounds and crossed a bridge over the water to a subdivision on the far side of the river. The homes were very nice, and they even had a full-featured clubhouse. We also toured the shops in town and even found excellent grocery store sushi at Albertson’s, which we enjoyed a couple of times.

On the last full day we went to the Goose Creek falls trail about 10 miles west of McCall. The trailhead was easy to get to, but the elevation gain/loss was about 700 feet. We were fine on the way down but dreaded needing to return by the same path because of the incline. Rightly so, because we had to rest frequently, and I even had to make a water run to the truck.

The road home

The drive home was pleasant and we took our time, even stopping for a sandwich and something cold at Lawyer’s Canyon, which has a nice view. Unfortunately the road noise was awful, and traffic quite brisk so we will likely not do that again. Instead, we found a Conoco station near the town of Winchester which we will use as a rest stop next time.

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Links

McCall RV Resort
Grande Hot Springs