Lava Hot Springs is a fun, family friendly destination in southeastern Idaho. There are quite a few activities that are fun to do while town (we will talk about those later this month) but today I’m going to focus on visiting the actual hot springs and give you 3 tips to help you enjoy them!

1. Prepare to be Hot!

The hot springs are quite warm. There are separate pools that vary from 100 degrees up to 110 degrees! So if hot pools aren’t your thing, you may want to just float the river or visit the aquatic center. But it can be so relaxing! The coolest pool is one of the biggest and offers plenty of room. You can also just stick your feet in if you’re feeling too hot.

2. Bring Your Lunch and Stay!

The hot springs do allow you to bring in food and drink as long as nothing is in a glass container. There are plenty of spots where you can stake out a small area and have a little picnic in-between your dips in the pool. There are also facilities outside of the pools that you can reserve for larger groups.

3. Plan Other Things!

The hot springs are not super big, so you probably won’t be spending your whole day there. We went as part of a family reunion and we spent the morning at the aquatic center and the afternoon floating the river and at the hot springs. You will definitely want to do the hot springs after  the river or aquatic center if you’re planning on doing either of those activities.