Hot springing during the “off” season is a pastime favorite of mine. It can be tricky… incessantly contending with icy roads, cold rain, closed access roads, mud, muck, silty pools, spring runoff and on… But, what’s life without a little challenge? 
The rewards can be bountiful. Solitude. Peace. Tranquility. Renewal. Revitalization. And, maybe… just maybe you’ll slip through a crack in the weather into a sunny, mid 60s Spring day in the forest… and find yourself enjoying a hot waterfall. Like I did.
Update on The Dipper and Campground
While in the Banks-Lowman area, I stopped to check on a couple other nearby hot springs. According to the posted sign, Skinnydipper Hot Springs (The Dipper) is currently available for soaking during the day only, with nighttime closure in full effect. This is good news considering it wasn’t too long ago the plug was almost permanently pulled.
Hot Springs Campground was in decent shape with temperatures clocking in around 100, which is fairly typical for this almost a warm spring, hot spring (HSC on IHS).
Happy Spring (and Trails)!
The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth … the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need — if only we had the eyes to see.
– Edward Abbey