Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Known as the Little Bitterroot, the region is home to numerous natural hot springs and
mud pots that for centuries have been thought to possess healing powers. Native Americ-
ans camped in the area to make use of the “big medicine.” When the area opened to white
settlers in 1910, the springs became increasingly commercial and were advertised around
the West. The local newspaper's slogan, printed beneath the masthead, read, “Limp In? . .
. Hop Out!” The original bathhouse closed in 1985, but if hot mineral water is your thing,
there are a number of modern versions worth soaking in.
The largest and most developed of the local hot springs,
Symes Hot Springs Hotel &
Mineral Baths
(209 Wall St., 406/741-2361 or 888/305-3106,
www.symeshotsprings.com
,
8am-11pm daily, $7/day non-guests, $4.50 children, rooms $55-133) was built in 1929 as a
grand Mission-style hotel. In addition to the outside mineral pools, two of which have been
recently renovated, spa treatments are offered in private pools. The guest rooms are modest
and quaint, and there is often live music at the hotel.
Camas Hot Springs
(north end of Spring St. by the abandoned Camas Bathhouse, free)
is run by the tribe and offers two outdoor pools and a very laid-back atmosphere. In the dis-
tance the original bathhouse has long been shuttered. The water in the pools stays at about
104°F. For information, contact the
Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce
(406/741-2662).
Developed in the 1930s,
Alameda's Hot Springs Retreat
(308 N. Spring St., 406/
741-2283,
www.alamedashotsprings.com
,
$50-125) is part motel, part spa with in-room
soaking tubs filled with natural hot spring water. The retreat is popular for health-related
gatherings and workshops, and the rooms are simple but clean. Although the retreat does
not have an outdoor pool, they can direct guests to other places to soak within walking dis-
tance.
Polson feels like the kind of town where there is almost always a fair going on or some
other reason to celebrate. Historically the economy has been based on lumber, steamboat
trade, and ranching. Founded around a trading post at the southern end of Flathead Lake in
1880, the town was named for David Polson, a local rancher who married a Nez Perce wo-
man and who played the fiddle at dances and powwows across the region. White settlement
from 1910 greatly increased the size of the town, and when much of the state was losing
population during the Great Depression, Polson actually doubled in size with farmers who
came to try their luck with the Flathead Irrigation Project, and people seeking work at the
Kerr Dam construction project.
