Trip Report: Bagby Hot Springs
When: 10/01/2017
Location: Bagby Hot Springs
Weather conditions: Slighty rainy with spurs of sun, cool temperatures, but not cold, perfect day to get your hot spring on.
Trail conditions: Well maintained up to the hot springs, Bagby is a very well maintained trail with heavy foot traffic.
Road conditions: The road up to bagby is paved. No need for four wheel drive, just a few cracks and bumps in the road along the way. Note: conditions will change in the winter months as the road up to Bagby in the winter is not maintained.
The hike to Bagby Hot Springs is a 1.5 Mile out and back trail, 3 Miles round trip. The hike itself, depending on your pace could take anywhere from half an hour to an hour out to the hot springs. On this journey, however, you will be doing much more than just hiking, you'll be taking a dip in the hot springs of course! This is important to take in account because the wait time to get into the hot springs can be lengthy on a busy day. Luckily we only waited about half an hour to get a tub and then spend about an hour and a half filling and soaking in the tub. There is also the drive time to take into account! Bagby Hot Springs is about an 1 hour and 40 minutes to 2 hours South-East of Portland.
Drive: 4 hours round trip (maybe you'll have to stop for gas or food or just a little extra time if you are more of a cruiser)
Hike: 2 hours roundtrip (lots to see and take in no need to rush)
Hot Springs: 2 hours (including wait and time to soak, could be more could be less depending on the day)
Total hours: 8 hours
Difficulty: Easy beginner friendly trail, very little elevations gain and no hazards to worry about.
Kid Friendly: Yes
Pet Friendly: Yes
Useful links:
www.bagbyhotsprings.org
www.fs.usda.gov
The Full Report:
On a cloudy and rainy morning, my girlfriend and I left Portland with my trailer, Methuselah, in tow. We heard of Bagby Hot Springs through word of mouth and from another Next Adventure employee, Eli. So, with little research, we typed in "Bagby Hot Springs" into my phone and headed South-East of Portland. Getting out of the city is always nice, but I was particularly enthusiastic about heading to Bagby since it was my first time getting out into the forest since I moved to Portland three weeks prior.
After passing through Estacada on the 224 you know you are on your way to somewhere special. The roads are winding and the forest is dense and alive, with the exception of a few spots recently burned during the fires. The directions to Bagby are fairly straightforward and of course can be looked up using a smartphone, but if you are old school and want to get there via a map you will take the 224 E and soon after Ripplebrook you will take a right onto NF-63 and then another right a few miles later onto Bagby Road. (there are also some signs that aren't too difficult to follow)
Not knowing anything about Bagby, we weren't sure what to expect upon arrival. Sometimes not doing research on a place can add to the adventure especially when the adventure is low-risk to start off with, like going to a hot spring. I do not think that Bagby requires much research, but I do think that it is worth noting that Bagby is a well established, well maintained, and well-trafficked area. It also costs $5 to enter the hot springs (honor system unless there is an attendant, in which case you will get a wristband). So, if are you looking for the serene natural hot springs overlooking mount hood with minimal humans this isn't the hot springs for you. Bagby does, however, have many other positive attributes that make it worth the trip.
We hit the trail after cooking up some leftover lentil soup by one of the many pullouts you can park your vehicle and camp at for free. Other options include camping at the Bagby Hot Springs Campground for $17 or parking in the day use area.
The Bagby Hot Springs Trail is awesome to put it simply. It’s the perfect hike for someone who is just trying to get out and go on more of a stroll than a strenuous hike. The trial is well-maintained, kid and dog-friendly. Most of the trail follows a small creek before slowly tapering up to the hot springs. Also, keep your eyes out for the magic fairy dust sprinkled on many of the hollowed-out tree trunks. It is quite the mystical place indeed! We took the hike at an easy pace and stopped frequently to take in the sights. There are a few well put together bridges that you will cross which are great spots to just stop and take in the fresh air being filtered by the trees right before your very eyes!
After about an hour we arrived at the hot springs to a bit of a wait (about half an hour in our case). The wait was well worth it. At Bagby, there are several different types of tubs. There are smaller private tubs that fit two people perfectly, three people comfortably, and four people if you really want to cram. There are larger group tubs but we managed to snag our own. After the wait we were very excited to get into the tub for a nice relaxing time. Unfortunately, it takes about half an hour to fill up a tub and figure out the system. Here is my advice: plug your tub with the wood stopper and then stuff the hole with the washcloth provided in the tubs. This should effectively begin to fill your tub. Immediately dump in about four buckets of cold water into the tub (there is a large cold water bin where you can fill up the provided buckets). Then fill up two more buckets and keep them with you in case things get a little too hot. Now for the piece of advice that will change your life. It will seem like the hot water is just going to relentlessly fill your tub and make it too hot and uncomfortable to be in. This was true for us until we discovered you can lift the wood piece that fills your tub. Tilt the wood piece back, put a rock underneath it thus stopping the flow of water. With that, you will be able to hang out in the tub feeling very comfortable.
After soaking we roamed around the hot spring area looking at the various old cabins. Turns out there is some old history up at Bagby. Who knew? Maybe you, but definitely not me at the time. Feeling very relaxed, satisfied, and quite sleepy we headed back down the trail, said goodbye to the fairies, and headed over to a dispersed camping site with a view of Mount Hood in the background, but that is a different trip report for a different time.
I hope you all enjoyed this report and hope that you are inspired to make the trip over to Bagby sometime soon or during the winter season. Just know if you choose the latter the conditions will be very different from the ones I experienced.
P.S I didn’t include a picture of the tubs because it is way more exciting not knowing what they will look like.
The Full Report:
On a cloudy and rainy morning, my girlfriend and I left Portland with my trailer, Methuselah, in tow. We heard of Bagby Hot Springs through word of mouth and from another Next Adventure employee, Eli. So, with little research, we typed in "Bagby Hot Springs" into my phone and headed South-East of Portland. Getting out of the city is always nice, but I was particularly enthusiastic about heading to Bagby since it was my first time getting out into the forest since I moved to Portland three weeks prior.
After passing through Estacada on the 224 you know you are on your way to somewhere special. The roads are winding and the forest is dense and alive, with the exception of a few spots recently burned during the fires. The directions to Bagby are fairly straightforward and of course can be looked up using a smartphone, but if you are old school and want to get there via a map you will take the 224 E and soon after Ripplebrook you will take a right onto NF-63 and then another right a few miles later onto Bagby Road. (there are also some signs that aren't too difficult to follow)
Not knowing anything about Bagby, we weren't sure what to expect upon arrival. Sometimes not doing research on a place can add to the adventure especially when the adventure is low-risk to start off with, like going to a hot spring. I do not think that Bagby requires much research, but I do think that it is worth noting that Bagby is a well established, well maintained, and well-trafficked area. It also costs $5 to enter the hot springs (honor system unless there is an attendant, in which case you will get a wristband). So, if are you looking for the serene natural hot springs overlooking mount hood with minimal humans this isn't the hot springs for you. Bagby does, however, have many other positive attributes that make it worth the trip.
We hit the trail after cooking up some leftover lentil soup by one of the many pullouts you can park your vehicle and camp at for free. Other options include camping at the Bagby Hot Springs Campground for $17 or parking in the day use area.
The Bagby Hot Springs Trail is awesome to put it simply. It’s the perfect hike for someone who is just trying to get out and go on more of a stroll than a strenuous hike. The trial is well-maintained, kid and dog-friendly. Most of the trail follows a small creek before slowly tapering up to the hot springs. Also, keep your eyes out for the magic fairy dust sprinkled on many of the hollowed-out tree trunks. It is quite the mystical place indeed! We took the hike at an easy pace and stopped frequently to take in the sights. There are a few well put together bridges that you will cross which are great spots to just stop and take in the fresh air being filtered by the trees right before your very eyes!
After about an hour we arrived at the hot springs to a bit of a wait (about half an hour in our case). The wait was well worth it. At Bagby, there are several different types of tubs. There are smaller private tubs that fit two people perfectly, three people comfortably, and four people if you really want to cram. There are larger group tubs but we managed to snag our own. After the wait we were very excited to get into the tub for a nice relaxing time. Unfortunately, it takes about half an hour to fill up a tub and figure out the system. Here is my advice: plug your tub with the wood stopper and then stuff the hole with the washcloth provided in the tubs. This should effectively begin to fill your tub. Immediately dump in about four buckets of cold water into the tub (there is a large cold water bin where you can fill up the provided buckets). Then fill up two more buckets and keep them with you in case things get a little too hot. Now for the piece of advice that will change your life. It will seem like the hot water is just going to relentlessly fill your tub and make it too hot and uncomfortable to be in. This was true for us until we discovered you can lift the wood piece that fills your tub. Tilt the wood piece back, put a rock underneath it thus stopping the flow of water. With that, you will be able to hang out in the tub feeling very comfortable.
After soaking we roamed around the hot spring area looking at the various old cabins. Turns out there is some old history up at Bagby. Who knew? Maybe you, but definitely not me at the time. Feeling very relaxed, satisfied, and quite sleepy we headed back down the trail, said goodbye to the fairies, and headed over to a dispersed camping site with a view of Mount Hood in the background, but that is a different trip report for a different time.
I hope you all enjoyed this report and hope that you are inspired to make the trip over to Bagby sometime soon or during the winter season. Just know if you choose the latter the conditions will be very different from the ones I experienced.
P.S I didn’t include a picture of the tubs because it is way more exciting not knowing what they will look like.