Alvord Hot Springs Bath House & Campground — Attraction in Burns

Be warned: this place is a junkyard and is misrepresented on website and social media.

We were going to Alvord hotsprings expecting not more, but not less than what they promise on their website: rustic, well-kept (as they promote family-owned), minimalistic but “modernized since 1940” place, where someone with appreciation for nature and tranquility can find peaceful place to enjoy this natural wonder.

What we found was non-hygienic conditions, trash, unkept facilities in disrepair, alcohol binging by facility managers and guests in the pools, etc. Here is the list of specifics:

There is no shower. Each hour, dozens of people plunge in two small pools with slowly running water. It would be very simple to install outdoor showers and ask that people wash themselves with soap prior to taking a communal dip (considering water is naturally non-treated), but there is no such option. Everyone uses small mineral pools as a bath. Call it what it actually is: unsanitary crowd bathing. Management team and their friends openly consume alcohol, smoke weed, and cigarettes while sitting in the hot-springs with guests. They accept and offer alcohol to people they like, while openly and loudly joking about a guest who refused to drink with them. Basically, they treat the facility as private backyard jacuzzi of a party house. We witnessed people and management team drinking alcohol inside the hot springs pools at around 9pm with visitors’ children around. The pools’ infrastructure is in need for urgent and basic repair. There is construction trash scattered behind the dressing “room” which in itself is dirty, with scattered housekeeping tools inside. The sitting bench is loosely constructed, blocking the main view of the basin from the pool. A structure that is supposed to be a sun deck is in disrepair and can’t be used. Management team partied in the pools till 11:30pm, left pile of trash: alcohol containers, cigarette buds and empty weed joint containers. They yelled together at the camp area close to midnight, woke us up.

Overal, it is a disgrace and disrespect to this land and it’s natural wonder how these “family owners” deliver their responsibility to steward while making profit from “hospitality services” For people who have respect and appreciation for nature: you will be dismayed by this. For people who understand cultural and historical context & significance of this place, as sacred to Native people, it will bring sadness to your heart. Fir people who have awareness of basic sanitary and health needs, you’ll probably go one step further than we did, and file a formal complaint. For anyone in recovery from alcohol use or a parent of a child, be careful what you expose yourself to when you go there. To anyone looking for a peaceful and healthy soak in natural hotsprings, you won’t have it. (I tried to time my peaceful soak at 6am and encountered a pile of cigarettes buds / alcohol cans trash from last night and someone from management team chatting loudly with a guest in the pool. At...

The property owners developed this from what was historically an unimproved free-to-access site into a staffed paid site, because, in their words, people were regularly "trashing the place." That's understandable, and it''s nice to have a bathroom and regularly cleaned pools in exchange for the reasonable fee. The pools themselves are totally unchanged from what I remember 25 years ago.

But the place is totally disorganized and unwelcoming, with passive aggressively worded and sometimes conflicting rules posted on about five pieces of paper on the office ("no dogs allowed past here" "dogs on leash only"). "[Break this rule] and you won't be coming back." Not a word of welcome to be found... this is their place, their rules, you're lucky they let you come, pay them and go away. A bunch of rusty army surplus trailers are sitting unimproved on half the property, which looks really dumpy. The attendant, while friendly, wouldn't take his hands or eyes off his smartphone while I was checking in. During our stay, employees drove up at 9:35pm and left their old diesel truck noisily idling for 15 minutes while they went inside.

So whatever, it's not my cup of tea, and I probably won't be back. No big loss. But there's one last negative that's really over the line. They now want payment from visitors to access adjacent areas, like the road that goes up the hill from the springs, and pike creek trailhead. According to them, you can't even drive up the road (4x4 unimproved common access) to check it out or see if camp sites are available without checking in at the office and paying, and if they catch you, they threaten charging a "disruption fee." There is no fee box at the turnoff to pike creek, just a single sign saying to go back to the office and pay, which is a mile or two away. The attendant didn't even know how much to charge when I asked. I seriously doubt this is legal or enforceable by them, but I've heard second-hand that the BLM is working to bring them in line. At any rate,...

I loved it here so much. The staff was so nice. When I made the reservation, I was told there was a single bathroom for all the guests. I was worried about that, but I didn't need to be. It was nice and clean (and not a porta potty like I thought it was going to be). Even so, I brought my own camping toilet for the nighttime and that was super convenient.

We drove to the middle of nowhere, gassed up and drove two more hours into the middle of nowhere to get there, which included 30 miles on a gravel road! You are truly away from noise, lights, traffic, towns, everything. It was great! The bunkers are clean and sturdy and the bed was comfortable. There is electricity. There is a lamp, a fan, and a space heater. One of the nights we were there the wind was blowing so hard all night and I was afraid our propane camping grill was going to blow off the picnic table (it didn't), but our bunker sat solid, not even a single sway in the wind, and no cold gusts getting in, either. There is a picnic table and fire pit for each bunker. There is no running, potable water. I brought my 5 gallon camping water cooler plus a one gallon jug, and that was enough water to last for cooking, drinking and washing for a two nights' stay with five meals. There is no TV and no cell service. The sky was beautiful. We learned that seeing the night sky is very dependent on what phase the moon is in. The moon was almost full and as bright as a halogen headlight in your eyes. So we waited until 3:00 a.m. when it was pitch black outside to see a beautiful sky. It wasn't nearly as beautiful as pictures I've seen, but that was all because of the moon. We hiked the Pike Creek Trail and it was absolutely gorgeous. We drove on the giant dry lake bed just to say we did. It is enormous and seems to never end. I got up before dawn and watched the sunrise while soaking in the hot springs. It was glorious. Thank you for a...