Hooper Springs Park — Attraction in Idaho

OVERVIEW - 5.0 Funny thing is I have passed through Soda Springs ever since I was a little kid, but don't ever really recall going to Hooper Springs, so I decided to play tourist for the afternoon as I was passing through Soda.

LOCATION - 5 You can't really demand a specific location when it comes to a naturally occurring spring.

PRICE - N/A There was no charge to come to this park and to partake of it's substance.

PRODUCT/SERVICE - 5 The spring is natural, I did try it, and it wasn't to my liking, but I'm sure if I added some artificial flavoring such as a lemonade packet or something the taste would be amazing.

POINTERS/PERKS - 5 Bring a cup or a mug or whatever to at least say you've tried to carbonated water, or "Soda". Funny thing is, I never made the connection to how Soda Springs got its name, and if I was a gambling man, I place my money on Hooper Springs as the reason it was called Soda Springs.

EMPLOYEES - N/A I'm sure there are behind the scenes kind of employees such as landscaping crew and maintenance, but being as I saw none, nor communicated with any I cannot fair score...

I grew up in Soda Springs, and spent plenty of time at Hooper Springs, between birthday parties, company parties, teenage shenanigans, etc. - and it’s good to see from user photos that it still looks largely the same. I always liked the novelty value of the carbonated spring water, but never liked the taste. A trick some savvy moms used was to make a pitcher of Kool-aid with the spring water, which makes it palatable. Love that somebody posted a picture of a truck dumping slag at the nearby Monsanto plant; when you see it ten times a day for your entire childhood it’s easy to forget that it’s actually kinda cool to see, especially when it’s cloudy or snowing and the whole sky...

Earlier we were watching the captive geyser downtown and struck up a conversation with a family that for decades had visited this area. They encouraged us to visit Hooper Springs, and I'm glad they did. We learned a lot, we enjoyed drinking the water (didn't enjoy the flavor, but enjoyed the experience), and it was neat to see even more of the beauty of this part of Idaho. Even the big industrial area nearby was worth a look. So the lesson is to always strike up a conversation with folks. You never know what cool advice...