Yellowstone NP - Soaking Rules

[cguiles]

Yellowstone NP - Soaking Rules
First of all, I'd like to pop in this disclaimer: I am a private citizen posting here. I do not represent the Park Service, Federal Government, or any other entity. I am not a jurist either - this is a list of the laws and regulations pertaining to swimming/soaking in Yellowstone National Park. Any interpretation is mine personally. OK?
For those of you not taken to browsing the Code of Federal Regulations on a regular basis, here are the two excerpts pertaining to soaking in YNP:

36 CFR Ch. I (7–1–09 Edition) § 7.13
(m) Swimming. The swimming or
bathing in a natural, historical, or archeological
thermal pool or stream
that has waters originating entirely
from a thermal spring or pool is prohibited.

Interpretation: No swimming in thermal pools. No swimming in thermal outflow channels. Swimming where thermal and non-thermal waters mix = OK!

36 CFR Ch. I (7–1–09 Edition) § 7.13
(j) Travel on trails. Foot travel in all
thermal areas and within the Yellowstone
Canyon between the Upper Falls
and Inspiration Point must be confined
to boardwalks or trails that are maintained
for such travel and are marked
by official signs.

Interpretation: No off-trail travel in thermal areas. (But what defines a thermal area?)

Source: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov Accessed 1/25/2010.



Here's the Yellowstone Web page interpretation of the legal-ease:

Scalding Water Can Ruin Your Trip
Yellowstone's thermal features, rare among the earth's wonders, are extremely fragile. Boardwalks and trails protect you and preserve delicate formations. You must stay on boardwalks and designated trails. Scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust. Pools may be near or above the boiling temperature and can cause severe, possibly even fatal, burns.
Pets are prohibited in thermal areas.
Swimming or bathing in thermal pools or streams, where water flows entirely from a thermal spring or pool, is prohibited. Where swimming is allowed, swim at your own risk. Thermal waters may contain organisms know to cause infections and/or amoebic meningitis, which can quickly be fatal. Obtain more information at any ranger station or visitor center.

Source: http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/yoursafety.htm Accessed 1/25/2010


OK, so this all sounds PERFECTLY BORING. Let me let you in on a secret - these regulations were put into effect to protect people's safety and protect the park. They are usually a reaction to a death or some stupidity which was then followed by a lawsuit. (See Lee Whittlesey's Death in Yellowstone Chapter 1 for more on this). That said, there are always people who break the rules and screw things up for the rest of us. There are plenty of legal soaks in Yellowstone. No they are not all along the road. Yes I am going to share some of my favorites with you. Just keep the above stuff in mind. We don't need more rules and regulations infringing on our precious soaking time!

Respectfully,
Carrie G.

[Spike]

Oh boy. I am getting giddy (cautiously giddy, of course) I'm now holding my breath!

[Floater]

The locals have been soaking and bathing in Yellowstone since before it was a National Park. The best soaks are a closely guarded secret. I was fortunate enough to make some good friends when I was in business in West Yellowstone years ago and had the great privilege to soak in some of the best hot pots in the world. Yes it was against the Park rules and the sanctions are extremely inconvenient and expensive, but these soaks were never trashed, and the fact that they have been kept secret has kept them off the radar of both tourists and law enforcement. There are a number of legal soaks in Yellowstone and frankly they pale in comparison to the illegal ones. People have died in Yellowstone hot pots. From my understanding most were drunk and fell or jumped into pools that were in excess of 150 degrees. They were literally boiled alive. So, I'm not suggesting anyone break the law or behave in a way that could limit access to others, but I am saying this. The single greatest soaking pool I have ever had the joy to soak in is an illegal soak in Yellowstone.

[Spike]

From what I have been able to gather over the past few years, this is a list of 13 legal and some illegal soaks in and around Yellowstone: (1) Dunada Falls HS, (2) Ferris Fork HS, (3) Bechler River HS, (4) Boiling River HS, (5) Mammoth HS, (6) Shoshone Geyser Basin, (7) Boy Scout Pool (near Union Falls), (8) Ojo Caliente runoff into the Firehole River on the Fountain Flat bike path, and (9) two soaks on a fairly non-descript trail off Firehole Lake Drive. Just outside of the park to the South are 10) Huckleberry HS, and 11) Polecat HS.
My wife's younger brother worked in Jackson Hole for a summer and said he went to Crawfish Creek HS (12) in YellowStone, near the South Entrance, hiking past Moose Falls. This one is illegal, but they soaked several times. Also, I've read there is a nice soaking spot on the north end of Jackson Lake, at the (13) mouth of Berry Creek.

[Kim_S]

Great info Spike- looks like a pretty complete list -possibly Carrie can add others!

[Spike]

Floater:
Your soaking in Yellowstone sounds sweet. It seems that the verbotten-soaks seem to be better than the legal ones. Once something is forbidden, it makes it all the more sweeter when it is experienced.

Like the CCR song; "Take you a glass of water, make it against the law, see how much the water tastes, when you can't have it at all." I'm am not sure if the illegal soaking spots are better than the legal ones, it just seems that way. Then when one of us has bragging rights of doing an illegal soak, we all get jealous.

So, compared to other places you have soaked, what made the illegal Yellowstone soak better?

[Floater]

I understand the part about something forbidden being 'sweeter" but in this particular case it wasn't necessary to make the soak I'm talking about sweeter.

Here is the scenario. We would leave West Yellowstone well after dark (at least 10-11pm) and drive into the Park. Upon arriving at the trail head, we would walk about 1 1/2 miles to the hot spring. Invariably we would pass a herd of elk, maybe see a moose or two. We would stay on designated area trails as far as we could and then we would leave the trail (illegal) and walk about 10 minutes to the spring. On the way we would pass a number of smaller, boiling springs, one which killed a drunk who had fallen into it and was literally boiled to death. When we went off trail we would always try to disguise the place we left the trail and do our best to not make a new trail. The soak was a beautiful tree rimmed pool that was about 60' by 100'. The only part that wasn't heavily treed was where the pool butted up to a rock facade that was a good 50' high. When there was a moon it would rise over that facade on a clear night and the stars would be amazing. There was a soft, dry area right along the side of the pool to sit and undress or to get out and cool off. The pool ran around 105 degrees with minimal fluctuation. In the winter it only dropped a few degrees. Some nights, when it would go up to 106 or so, it was so hot that as someone walked by you, and the water moved, it felt like it was burning. Because only the locals new about it and it was hard to find, there was never any trash. We would park in an area that was used by other folks for legal activities nearby (not near the spring but near the parking lot) so the Park Service presence made sure there was no parking lot vandalism. There was an "understanding" that people wouldn't camp overnight, thus limiting exposure with the Park Rangers. Some non-locals broke the rule one night and they were taken aside and read the riot act. So, it was a beautiful, hot pool (no sulfur), in a beautiful setting (trees, rock facade, huge sky with amazing stars), no vandalism, no drunks, no fights, no perverts, completely CO with a really nice hike in and out. The fact that it was illegal didn't really make it sweeter, but it made us a little more cautious. As has been mentioned on this forum before, the penalty for getting caught was to be taken to Sheridan, Wyoming, kept in jail overnight, fined $500 and then paying to get your car out of impound if they could identify a car in the parking lot as yours, or, having to find a way back to West Yellowstone which was a long way.

I went back a few years ago and clearly no one had been there for quite awhile. We had trouble finding it. The algae had grown over most of it and there wasn't a trace of footprints or a path. We cleared away most of the algae and had another amazing soak. I guess part of what made it such a great experience was that none of the elements that detract from many of today's soaks existed. No drunks, no vandals, no trash, no sulfur, no dog fights, women felt completely comfortable there and it was CO. The only people who knew how to get there were people who appreciated and respected the soaking experience. I think in some ways my desire to buy and develop a hot water source in a wilderness area comes from my experiences back at the many soaks I had there. EVERYTHING about that soak was amazing. (well, except for the precautions we had to take not to get caught)

[Slackbaron]

I've been at 1-11 of Spike's list, plus Witch Creek towards Heart Lake. My "secret illegal soak", is the fact that Boy Scout pool is just a swimming hole in the warm Mountain Ash creek. Several years ago I hiked several miles above Boy Scout pool, and Mountain ash creek very slowly became warmer, with an infinite number on beautiful and solitary soaking opportunities.

[Spike]

Floater:
My gosh. I am sitting here feeling wistful, almost tingly. What an amazing place!

[Floater]

Spike,

Even though I am trained to, and paid to, use words to portray things in the most favorable light, my words don't begin to express how it felt to be soaking in that pristine place under the moon and stars. It's as close as I have ever come to truly understanding the words "peace of mind".