Hot Springs and Ice Cream: Thermopolis, Wyoming - July 10, 2019
From Rose Lake, Idaho, we drove to Helena, Montana to spend a day taking care of necessities like laundry and work done online. Just east of Helena is Canyon Ferry Lake where we camped for the night before heading to Thermopolis, Wyoming.
The Court Sheriff Campground where we stayed on Canyon Ferry Lake is run by the Bureau of Reclamation. There are 48 campsites along the water with vault toilets, water, trash, and a campground host. However, there is no place to dump gray or black water. We have over ten gallons of gray water capacity (two jerry cans), so not being able to dump wasn't a concern. We had a nice view of the lake from our campsite where we could watch people enjoying the water with their SUP boards, motor boats and fishing poles. Surprisingly, mosquitos were basically non-existent.
On the drive to Thermopolis, we stopped in Basin, Wyoming for ice cream. The Cone Zone is a cute little ice cream shop at the back of the Black Mountain Grill restaurant. There is a little service window that faces the highway where you can order your ice cream, but we soon discovered there is a door around the back to go inside the shop and eat at the stools along the counter in the air conditioning. You can also walk through the restaurant to get to the Cone Zone. As we sat at the counter enjoying our ice cream and milkshake, we were entertained by swapping travel stories with Jersey, the friendly employee behind the counter. If you find yourself driving through Basin, the Cone Zone is definitely worth a stop, especially on a hot day.
Our campground reservation for the night was at Eagle RV Park, just south of the town of Thermopolis. Eagle is a private campground with the typical private campground amenities: full hookups at shady sites, clean showers, laundry, group pavilion area, rental cabins, and a small general store. They do not have an online reservation system, but you can reserve a site over the phone, the old-fashioned way. In this day and age, it seemed a little uncomfortable to just talk to a stranger on the phone to secure a reservation, with no deposit, no receipt, no confirmation number or other proof. However, after meeting the woman who runs the RV park in person, we are very confident that she would make things right even if she did lose our reservation. Have we forgotten how to trust people?
After checking in at the campground, we drove back into town to visit the Hot Springs State Park. There are three bath houses in the park from which to enjoy the hot springs. Two are privately run and charge a fee, the TeePee and the Star Plunge. The Hot Springs State Park Bath House is run by the state and is free to the general public, but has shorter hours than the other two bath houses. When we arrived at the park in the evening, the state bath house was already closed. That was fine with us as Left Buddy (LB) is not that fond of swimming and it was rather warm outside which did not make hot springs sound that appealing. The land of the Hot Springs State Park was purchased from the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Indian tribes in 1896, with the treaty including a provision that a portion of the hot springs water remain accessible to the general public for free.
The board walk around the Rainbow Terrace enabled us to get a close up view of the colorful mineral deposits and see the scums and slimes (microorganisms) that are growing in the hot water. Right Buddy (RB) was surprised to see the killdeer birds wading in the shallow hot water and mud, seemingly unaffected by the high temperatures.
We continued our walk over the Swinging Bridge (a suspension bridge for pedestrians) to the other side of the Bighorn River. Had RB known the name of the bridge before she crossed it, she might not have felt so uncomfortable as the bridge started to sway. Being on the other side gave us a great view back over the river of the colorful terraces, with the hot water dripping over the sides into the river. As we crossed back over the Swinging Bridge, RB thought she’d feel better now that she knew it would sway. Nope, she was still very uncomfortable!
The last sight on our walk was the Big Spring. There was a viewing platform which allowed us to get up a little higher so we could look down into the dark, deep spring and watch carbon dioxide bubble up to the surface of the water.
On the hillside behind the spring are large white letters claiming that the Big Spring is the world’s largest mineral hot spring. We’re not sure if that is true or not, but we personally prefer that communicated in a less obtrusive manner than sprawled across the hillside. Evidently there are people who like it there and probably take pride in it.
On our way out of the park, we stopped at the Teepee Fountain. According to the sign next to it, the fountain was built in 1909 to vent steam from the water that was piped throughout the park. It was originally in the shape of a teepee, but, over time, the water from the hot springs deposited layers of travertine to produce the colorful dome shape that it is today. At the park entrance is the Best Western hotel which is in the historic Callaghan Apartments. The apartments were built in 1918 to cater to tourists, built by bricklayer James Callaghan, who made the bricks in a kiln that he built on site.
After walking around all the hot water on a hot day, we were ready for, you guessed it, more ice cream. What?! Ice cream twice in one day? You betcha! Just a block away from the park entrance is Dairyland Ice Cream and Miniature Golf. Their menu was extensive, including not only ice cream, but also meals such as burgers and fries. It seemed to be quite the gathering spot for the town as most of the outside tables were occupied with everyone enjoying their food. Despite the crowd, we received our ice cream in a timely manner. RB smiled as she noticed a small girl watching her own shadow as she danced. Sorry we didn’t take any pictures of the two different ice cream shops we went to; we were too busy savoring our treats!
Check out our related video: Thermopolis, Wyoming – July 10, 2019
(RB)