Snively Hot Spring

🏊Swimming at Snively Hot Spring

Visitors soak rather than swim laps: a single large, informal rock-lined pool with a gravel/sandy bottom about 2-3 feet deep lets people position themselves closer to or farther from the hot source water to find a comfortable temperature, which one visitor described as ranging from scalding to cold within a few feet. The experience suits soaking/bathing more than active swimming, though visitors have also entered the adjacent river current to reach additional smaller pools across the water.

📍How to get to this swimming hole

From Adrian, Oregon, BLM signage directs visitors north on OR-201 to Mendiola Rd, then Kurtz Rd, Overstreet Rd, and Owyhee Lake Rd to the site; from Ontario, travelers take OR-201 south toward Lake Owyhee and follow Owyhee Lake Road roughly 6.5 miles to the parking area (unpaved final miles, high-clearance vehicle recommended per one source).

Parking: Free day-use parking area onsite; one first-hand account notes two separate parking lots at the site.

💬What regulars say

Visitors report that arriving at sunrise lets you have the pool to yourself, while the site "can get busy" later in the day and was described as "pretty busy" by one family visiting on a weekend. Water shoes are strongly recommended because the pool and riverbank are rocky/gravelly. Temperature is uneven; one visitor found a moderate ~100-101°F in the main area with scalding water entering nearby and cooler pockets elsewhere, so people move around to find a comfortable spot. Adventurous visitors (including kids) have swum across the river current to reach smaller additional pools on the far bank. Weather can turn cold and windy, especially in shoulder seasons (one visit was interrupted by snow). Littering has been an ongoing complaint, and cell service is essentially unavailable on site, so offline maps are recommended for the drive in.

📜Backstory

The site reportedly once operated as a commercial swimming facility with changing rooms and refreshments run by a private operator; after the operator's death and subsequent overuse and deterioration, it reverted to BLM management as an undeveloped, primitive recreation site.