Meager Creek and Placid Hot Springs

The Road Chose Me Volume 2 OUT NOW!!
The Road Chose Me Volume 2: Three years and 54,000 miles around Africa

Two summers ago, a good friend Mark and I had tried to visit Meager Creek Hot Spring. As usual we did very little planning or investigation and set out in early spring. About 8 km before the hot spring we got my old Jeep stuck in snow and decided to hike the rest of the way. One hundred meters before the hot spring, a crossing of Meager Creek is required. Normally this is achieved by a huge bridge, but it had been washed out a couple of years earlier. We, of course, didn’t know this until we were standing on the wrong side watching steam rise on the other. Seeing a helicopter land at the springs so the occupants could soak did nothing to curb our dissapointment. We hunted for a crossing up and downstream for hours, but could not find a way across the then raging torrent of water.
I have wanted to return ever since to the elusive Meager Creek Hot Spring….

As Mike and I stroll across the new bridge over Meager Creek, I can’t help thinking how easy it all is. We only walk the last 200 meters to arrive at the main soaking tubs. There are three main tubs, formed from concrete and lined with rocks. All are just above body temperature and within a degree or two of each other. Two are right down next to Meager Creek and another is set in a little, fed by a beautiful hot waterfall.

Dan & Mike at Meager Creek Hot Spring, finally!

During the 1970’s, exploration was carried out in the area in the hope of finding enough hot water to generate geothermal electricity. Evidence can be seen of the drilling carried out in the form of a geyser in the middle of a slimy, hardly used pool.

Geyser at Meager Creek caused by drilling

Hot or warm water seeps out of the ground for a couple of hundred meters in all directions.
Mike and I rock-hop upstream to the relatively unknown Placid Hot Spring. The spring has two main sources, both of which have a very good flow rate and although I forgot my thermometer, I put it in the 60˚C range. The water is clear and odorless.

Placid Hot Spring waterfall

Many smaller, cooler seeps feed slimy, murky pools and swampy grassy areas right along the bank of Meager Creek.

Placid Hot Spring pool

We return to Meager and have a fantastic soak, chatting to the many other people enjoying the spring.

Soaking at Meager Creek

-Dan