Hot Springs State Park
Hot Springs State Park | |
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Location | Thermopolis, Wyoming, United States |
Coordinates | 43°39′19″N 108°11′57″W / 43.65528°N 108.19917°W[2] |
Area | 1,108.67 acres (4.4866 km2)[3] |
Elevation | 4,363 ft (1,330 m)[2] |
Designation | Wyoming state park |
Established | 1897 |
Administrator | Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails |
Website | Hot Springs State Park |
Hot Springs State Park is a public recreation area in Thermopolis, Wyoming, known for its hot springs, which flow at a constant temperature of 135° Fahrenheit. The state park offers free bathing at the State Bath House, where temperatures are moderated to a therapeutic 104 °F.[4] The petroglyph site at Legend Rock, some 25 miles away, is also part of the park.[5] The park is managed by the Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites.
History
The land on which the state park sits was a cession agreement, and the ceded portion was purchased from the Eastern Shoshone by the federal government in 1896, when Indian Inspector James McLaughlin negotiated a purchase price of $60,000 for a 100-square-mile portion of the Shoshone reservation. A square-mile section of that land was released to the state in 1897 which became Wyoming's first state park, known as Big Horn Hot Springs State Reserve.[6][7]
Features
The park features a managed herd of bison, a suspension foot bridge across the Big Horn River, picnic shelters, boat docks, flower gardens, and terraces made of naturally forming travertine (calcium carbonate) caused by a flowing mineral hot spring.[4] The park area encompasses commercial hotels and several state-run and privately operated entities including the Gottsche Rehabilitation Center, Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital, the historic Callaghan Apartments/Plaza Hotel, the Star Plunge waterpark, the Tepee Pools waterpark, and the Wyoming Pioneer Home, a state-run, assisted-living facility.
Gallery
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Big Horn Hot Springs, c. 1914
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Travertine formation
at Hot Springs State Park -
Winter view of the suspension footbridge over the Big Horn River
References
- ^ "Hot Springs State Park". Protected Planet. IUCN. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "Hot Springs State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ "Table 1. Facilities managed by Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails" (PDF). SOAR 2021. Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. p. 12. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
- ^ a b "Hot Springs State Park". Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails. State of Wyoming. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
- ^ "Hot Springs State Park Brochure". Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails. State of Wyoming. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- ^ Hein, Annette. "Hot Springs County, Wyoming". Wyoming State Historical Society. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ "Hot Springs State Park". Wyoming Places. Wyoming State Library. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
Hot Springs State Park.
- Hot Springs State Park Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails
- Hot Springs State Park Brochure and Map Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails