Evans Plunge Mineral Springs — Attraction in Hot Springs

We drove up from Rapid City to enjoy the day at Evan's plunge, something we do at least once a year. We always wait until summer to make the trip to be able to enjoy the outdoor pool as well. We got there and were not told that the outdoor pool would not be open. We paid went in and were excited to enjoy the facilities but were extremely disappointed to see it was closed. I understand short staffing, but I feel if your full facilities aren't going to be open, that should be expressed before we pay full price for our visit. The reason for it being closed was because of staffing, yet the entire time we we were there, the two life guards stood together at the life guard chair (one sat) right outside of the life guard room and talked the entire time. They would whistle at people across the pool and yell, but you couldn't hear a thing they were saying unless you were right by them, because they were so far away. A few times, one would go in and there would be one lifeguard. It's very easy to understand being short staffed and not being able to open because of that but not when your two life guards are standing together talking to each other, yelling across the pool at kids who can't even hear what they are saying because they are so far away, or there just being one out there. Seems like if there was only going to be one anyway, you could put the other outside, so they aren't just standing taking, and people would get what they paid for and the kids are just getting paid to chat and yell from across the pool. Or at least tell people before they pay, what they will be missing out on during...

This place is nostalgic - in a very good way. The place itself is a solid 4 star. We came here 2 years ago on an out west road trip & loved it so much, we added it to our road trip again this year.

This is a natural hot spring with minerals in the water -that's actually good for you. It has a smooth rocky bottom and then a roof & building were built over it. I'd prefer this all day every day over a smooth bottom, filled with chlorine, at a water park.

It's an older building. It's been around for over 100 years. But it's in great shape and well maintained.

I'd totally give a solid 5 star for the stop- but the young, immature, loud mouth blonde life guard that yells & blows her whistle for the dumbest reasons deserves 1 star in the customer service category. She blasts her whistle & yells every 10 minutes after 6 pm to let you know they're closing at 7pm. She tells some people they can't jump off the side. Then she stands there for 30 minutes, playing with a kid that she is encouraging and teasing to jump off the side into the water. So, which is it?! Can you or can't you?!? How can you enjoy yourself when someone won't stop yelling, screaming, blasting a whistle, & giving mixed instructions?!

Get rid of her or train her better & this place totally deserves 5 stars. The elderly guy that works the front counter was fantastic. He's top notch customer service.

We were there Sept. 7th...

It is so hard to give an impression of Evans Plunge. On the one hand, the facilities were clean and nicely laid out with adequate safety signage and lifeguards. On the other hand, the description of "warm mineral springs" is quite definitely misleading. They warned us beforehand that the outdoor portion was closed due to a sever storm overnight, but neglected to mention that the outdoor portion was over half of the facilities. The indoor portion is a giant swimming pool -- admittedly with a nice rock pebble bottom -- and two small slides, one of which was closed as well. They claim it is 87 degrees, but felt significantly colder to me.

The "health spa" portion is not natural mineral water, the hot tubs and sauna were both chlorinated. The hot tubs were your generic pre-fab set up, and the steam room was tiled with manufactured steam. Contrast this to the hot springs in Thermopolis, Wyoming where the hot tubs and steam room were actual untreated spring water.

In summary, we did not have a "bad" experience, but neither was it a good and fulfilling experience. I do not recommend Evans Plunge; but if your kids insist on going, hopefully the outdoor slides are open and there aren't three large...