Day 3: Rest/Tourist Day in Thermopolis

July 11, 2024

Thermopolis, Wyoming is my choice for a rest/tourist day because it's an interesting place to visit.

The entry starts with a tour of the town. The downtown photos were taken yesterday when I pedaled into town. I didn't go back to downtown today even though it's only one mile from the hotel.

Downtown Thermopolis is very attractive, with a mixture of brick and limestone buildings. An impressive downtown for a town of only 2742 people, thanks to being a county seat and a tourist attraction.

Statue in the middle of downtown Thermopolis.

The beautiful Beaux-Arts style post office is built with brick and stone.

Hot Springs County courthouse is an impressive limestone structure.

The remaining photos were taken today. I'll start with a tour of Hot Springs State Park which is across the river from the town of Thermopolis. It's a large park, Wyoming's oldest and most-visited state park.

The state park village has two large hotels. The oldest hotel is historic, a Best Western Plus hotel that is more expensive than my hotel. It has a swimming pool but it doesn't have hot spring soaking.

Historic hotel at Hot Springs State Park.

I'm staying at the newer (50 years old?) Hot Springs Hotel which does have hot spring soaking. It's promoted as a resort with a swimming pool, hot spring soaking, massage, restaurant and bar, etc. I paid a premium to be in the state park with a hot spring pool, but motels in town are cheaper and begging for customers. Thermopolis is a sleepy remote tourist town, not an overpriced and overcrowded Yellowstone/Grand Teton gateway town.

I soaked both evenings in the hot spring pool. There's a heat wave, so I waited until after dark when it was cool and mosquito free. I appreciate that the mildly sulfury hot water flows continuously through the small pool with a high refresh rate that doesn't need disinfectant. I'm not much interested in the swimming pool hot plunges that add chlorine.

Hot Springs Hotel is the only lodging with a hot soaking pool.

I had two dinners and two breakfasts at the Safari Club restaurant and bar. The name is certainly descriptive of the decor.

Safari Club restaurant and bar at Hot Springs Hotel.

Hot Springs State Park has 3 public hot spring soaking options. Two of the soaks are commercial "beach ball" soaks with pools, big slides, etc. The third soak is the State Bath House which is more for quiet soaking, not really a place for kids to play.

Star Plunge is the largest of two commercial plunges.

The State Bath House exists and is free to honor a treaty with an Indian tribe.

Hellie's Teepee is a commercial plunge with an indoor pool under the copper dome, plus an outdoor pool and water slide.

Near the hotel is a big statue and fountain that was built to commemorate Wyoming's centennial in 1990. I think the statue promotes stereotypes that are not historically accurate. The Indians weren't naked. The settlers weren't well dressed-their clothes were in tatters, impossible to replace.

Statue depicting interaction between natives and settlers.

That completes the tour of the village portion of Hot Springs State Park. Now a tour of the hot springs and backcountry of the park. Today is forecast to have a high of 100F, so I pedaled the hilly 4 mile park loop starting at 8 AM when the temperature was only 72F.

The first stop was at Big Spring which is the main hot water source for the mineral terrace. A hot creek flows out of a very deep hole, similar to many hot springs in Yellowstone National Park.

Big Spring is the main hot water source for the giant mineral terrace.

The paved park loop climbs about 200 feet. Partway up the hill the road passes the park's bison herd which lives in a fenced compound.

Hot Springs State Park has a fenced bison herd.

At the top of the loop road I walked the short spur trail to an overlook of Thermopolis and Hot Springs State Park.

I also stopped to look at Smoky Row cemetery. A few settlers lived here before the park was established in 1897.

After finishing the 4 mile park loop road I parked the bike and walked the boardwalks of the mineral terrace to see it in morning sun.

Morning view looking west across the top of the mineral terrace. River below.

The terrace has boardwalks that allow visitors to cross the hot water without hurting themselves or damaging the terrace. The far end of the boardwalk connects to a swing bridge that crosses the Bighorn river. In the early years of the park, the 1916 swing bridge was the only access to the mineral terrace. This version was built in 1992 using the original towers.

Morning view of the swing bridge and Bighorn river looking downstream.

Morning view of the mineral terrace looking south.

I got back to the hotel at 10 AM. The temperature was still a pleasant 82F, but rising rapidly. A 100F day is a good day to take as a rest day. I took a 4 hour nap, then got up at 2:30 PM and did chores such as laundry, shave, etc. At 5 PM I went to have an early dinner at the Safari Club. Tonight's sirloin was better than last night's meat loaf.

I waited until about 8 PM to start my evening walk to the mineral terrace. The timing was good. Nice low sun angle, but no long shadows spreading across the terrace. Perhaps the most spectacular view is where the lower boardwalk ends.

The air temperature was 98F, but it got noticeably warmer when the boardwalk was over hot water. Not all of the mineral terrace has flowing hot water. But the hot water flows over a large area. Far more hot water now compared to what I saw during my first visit in October 2015. There seem to be large seasonal variations in the hot flow.

The air temperature rises when walking over the hot water.

Evening sun gives the best view of the mineral terrace dropping down to the Bighorn river.

Evening view of the swing bridge, mineral terrace, and river.

My photos show that Hot Springs State Park is an extremely interesting place to visit, but is not a crowded tourist attraction. I appreciate that it's kind of a mini-Yellowstone, but without crowds. I feel the same way about Lassen Volcanic National Park in California, where visitors can walk the Bumpass Hell trail and see thermal features that resemble Yellowstone, but without Yellowstone crowds.

Vivid areas have flowing water. Less vivid areas are dry now.

Looking southeast across the top of the mineral terrace.

Final terrace view. The hill says World's Largest Mineral Hot Spring, with an arrow pointing to Big Spring.

Thermopolis has a popular dinosaur museum about a mile south of my hotel, displaying bones found at the museum's private dig. I didn't go there. Maybe next time...

I accomplished my rest and tourist goals today. I needed the rest and recovery after two extremely long difficult days. Thermopolis is a very interesting place to visit, both the town and Hot Springs State Park. To me it's an ideal place for a rest/tourist day. With a high temperature of 101F, it was a great day to spend the entire afternoon indoors. But after dark I had another soak in the outdoor hot spring pool-living the resort life in Thermopolis, Wyoming.

Distance: 5.9 miles
Averaged Speed: 6.6 mph
Ascent/Descent: +268/-268 feet

Today's ride: 6 miles (10 km)
Total: 146 miles (235 km)

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