This is one of my favorite hikes. It's a long one, but extremely rewarding once you reach to the final point. I enjoyed it because of the surrounding nature. I took my time doing the hike--listened to some music; noticed the different plants; took breaks; and then, took my headphones off to really soak in nature. It was so therapeutic. Once I reached the final point, I noticed it was quite packed when I went around fall season; and I'm not surprised. The weather was perfect to dip in the hot springs; and the colorful fall leaves made my experience extra vibrant. The water was clean; temperature of water varies depending on where you're sitting; and each area vary in size. As for someone who enjoys exploring and all the adventures, I decided to take my time to sit in each hot springs. Honestly, my favorite is the first one as the hiker approaches the start of hot springs. It's not big, but it's more secluded. It has a nice balance of shade and sunlight; little waterfalls; and some rocks to hop over and/or sit on. I felt as if it was part of my backyard, lol. I couldn't help but to take so much pictures. I'm definitely coming back again during the spring or summer to experience it differently. read more

The concept of a natural hot springs is to go during colder months and expect to walk a lot to get there since it is natural and secluded. We didn't want to pay for a hot spring since the other ones were busy and the "natural" element is no longer there. However, we weren't as prepared as we thought we were. We visited this hot spring in late December which meant a lot of the roads leading there were closed due to the snow. We walked about 1 mile before reaching the trailhead. Once you reach a sign that points straight and right, take the right to cross the small bridge towards the side of the mountain. Our saving grace was google maps but it wasn't fully accurate at times. Remember that once you cross that bridge, the river should stay on your right until you reach the springs. This trek was TOUGH and feels like 10 miles (when it's only about 5) because of the hills and thick snow/ice. We did not have spikes or sticks to help so we had to rely on each other and our surroundings. It took about 2.5 hours going since we didn't stop and were going fairly quickly and this is coming from someone who does not hike regularly. There was a portion of the hike that was a uphill climb using a rope which was probably the scariest part for me because it was icy and not stable (hence why spikes would help). Once you near the springs, the smell of sulfur becomes strong and the river begins changing color from clear to blue. There are 2 spots that is on google maps, the first one was very busy but it was not the main attraction. We kept walking and got to the actual fifth water hot springs which was still kind of busy but enjoyable. We got into both the hot springs and the cold springs and it was a very cool experience. The hike back was much faster since we knew where we were going but still hard. If you want to challenge yourself to a hike with a cool and relaxing reward of being in the hot springs, I would recommend this hike! I'm sure it's easier when it's not snowy/icy but being in naturally hot pools while your surroundings are covered in snow is beautiful and I would do this again. Tips: -We forgot towels which was a rookie mistake so make sure to take some! -Remember to take off any jewelry prior to going/getting in the hot springs because the sulfur will tarnish it. -Wear thick socks to avoid frozen toes. -The hike itself was beautiful so remember to look up and enjoy the scenery instead of always looking down at the trail. -Start EARLY because it will take at least half a day to complete read more

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Parking was our first challenge, but we managed to find a spot once a few people left. Next came the hike, which, while scenic, posed a slight challenge--especially if you're not wearing suitable shoes. Fortunately, I managed well in my platform Converse, so it's doable! The springs themselves were enjoyable, though a bit crowded, but we found a good spot. It was nice having both hot and cold pools in the same area. However, a word of caution: please be careful when soaking in the hotter spring; my boyfriend had to assist someone who passed out. Other than that, we had a great time! P.S. If anyone found a Coach dinosaur wallet, please let me know! read more

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Go early, there is a $10 - recently implemented or have a pass. Also, be thoughtful and take your trash home. read more

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The hike there is about 4.5 miles but it feels longer because of the hills. The hike up there itself is pretty easy. However, during snow season and a bit after it is extremely slippery so I recommend bringing shoes with a lot of traction. The springs itself were really pretty but they smelt strongly of sulfur and it gets pretty busy after 9am. There are only about 4 pools that are actually hot and the rest are cold. I would recommend going but only for the beautiful hike. Sometimes the road to go up to the start of the trail is closed off so be prepared to walk an extra mile or two. Also, make sure to download the map there and take a picture of the main map at the beginning of the trail. There is absolutely no cell reception about a mile in. read more

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Very beautiful, about 1hr 20min hike up, recommend to go early in the morning when it's not hot, the view is even nicer. The water is hot so I would start at the lower pools and make your way up. read more

This is such a really nice hike, as the experience is to go when there is snow. I do have to say I found there's a lot of wrong information to get to the hotspot springs. If you come in winter, they close part of the road a mile before you start the hike. So, you do 1 mile. Once you turn right, it will be around 2.5 miles up to the hot spring pools. Google Maps shows the pools are in the middle of the hike, but the actual hot springs pools are on the second pin. I do highly recommend you come with proper winter clothing and good hiking shoes, and if possible, get some spikes. I was not in shape, but it took me 2 hours from the start of the hike. But the road that was closed a mile back took me 1 hour, so in total, I did 3 hours for 3.5 miles one way. I was going slow as my wife is pregnant. We didn't time correctly, so on our way back down, it got us through the night. It was a great hike, and I will do it again. read more

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Do you enjoy hiking 3.5 miles each way, uphill (if the gates past Diamond Forks campground are closed), in high altitudes, with some parts of the trail looking like it had been destroyed by a small landslide? Do you have small children, are elderly or need handicap-accessible paths? Depending on your answer, you may or may not enjoy this death-hike to an over-crowded set of hot springs that look nothing like the photoshopped images you see online. My husband randomly picked this hot spring to bring the family to, even after I did a bit more research and had advised against it. I should've put my foot down (insert sad laughter). We arrived early at the small parking lot, but not early enough--there were about half a dozen cars there already. Not a problem. The few hikers we ran across were quick, quiet and friendly. It was still early enough in the year that the gates were still closed/locked to prevent cars from driving further--this added an extra mile to the hike. All right, I guess. Utah is very lovely, the mountains are visually stunning. Once you get to the actual trail, things are still very nice... until about an hour in, when you start to notice how easily out of breath and fatigued you are because 1. you're in the Utah mountains, which means higher elevations, and 2. the trail is slowly climbing higher so you're actually going uphill. DAMMIT. For someone who has always had terrible stamina, no matter what my age or how fit I was, this hike was a nightmare. I'd rather do tax calculations for the last 5 years than do this hike again. It took me hours to reach the hot springs and honestly, it was NOT worth it. There was only 1 small pool that held a comfortable level of warmth, all of the others were either extremely hot or just ice cold. So guess where most people wanted to congregate? Be careful of the rocks inside the pools, they are very slippery. The water is more of a murky/dirty grayish color--there is absolutely nothing resembling a blue hue so adjust your expectations accordingly. We hung out in the hot springs for a little bit before heading back down the trail--returning was MUCH better because it was downhill. On the way back, more and more people were coming up the trail. It was actually pretty shocking the number of people arriving, some were carrying babies and toddlers (good luck). Groups of 10+ people of all ages too, lots of young children. Maybe this trail is a walk in the park for most people? By the time we (ok, just me) finally got back to our car, the small parking lot was PACKED! I thought I was at the fairgrounds or something, it was unrecognizable compared to that morning. Every possible spot to park a vehicle was occupied all the way back to the Diamond Fork campgrounds lot. With this many people, there was also an increase in garbage laying around so we picked up whenever we saw any and just packed it out. Come on people. Sigh... I was so glad we arrived early in the morning and left when we did, but I'm never coming back here again. If my husband wants to go enjoy a hot springs again, I'll fly him to Japan instead. read more

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This is still one of my favorite hikes to do in the summer time. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from SLC but totally worth the short hike 2.2 miles (out and back) to the hotsprings. My family was visiting and had to show them how beautiful Utah is. We arrived around 9AM and the parking lot was already filling up. I've experienced the horror of not being able to leave because someone else blocked me in. This time I parked towards the entrance for an easier escape and to avoid getting trapped. The horseflies were already there, but I wore bug spray to keep them off of me. They do bite and it's just annoying always swatting them away. Highly recommend bringing bug spray. Once we reached to the pools, we only got to enjoy it for a few minutes. We saw a snake on the other side of the mountain and it slowly made its way into the hotsprings. We thought that the fast current from the waterfall would wash it down stream, but it swam against it and slithered in between the rocks by the main hot tub. We got out with the quickness but this lady told her kids that it was fine because "it's down there." Luckily we came early to have the pools to ourselves for a good 20 minutes before being rushed out by the snake. read more

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The hiking season in a Utah has begun and I absolutely love hiking. My friend and I planned the day for a hike, but we had not settled on a specific area. I remember coming here with friends over a year ago in search of the hot springs. We had no idea you had to hike over five miles to reach the hot springs. We gave up half way up the trail. Today we were determined to make it to the hot springs. The gates to the different trails are closed so we parked about two miles down and started our hike. It was around nine miles of hiking in ice. Don't forget to take your snowshoe spikes. We witnessed one lady slip and fall and many people come close to a serious fall. The scenery is stunning. The mountain tops still have plenty of snow and it get down to freezing temperatures in areas where the sun doesn't shine. The long hike up was worth it. There are several hot springs to choose from and even though it was a bit crowded we still enjoyed the warm dip. I highly recommend this hike. Don't forget your water and lots of snacks. Check it out! read more

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The river is flowing along the entire hike, take the right fork for an extra sketchy adventure involved rope and climbing, there are still two warm pools out there, even with the high flow level. The waterfall was epic. read more

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Super fun and easy hike and the hot springs are awesome! Occasionally it can get crowded. During the cold season the road is closed so it adds another 1.2 miles onto the hike! read more

We enjoyed this hike so much. Our friend actually found the hot springs online and we decided to go check it out. The hike is about 2.5 miles one way so its not too bad. Pretty easy hike with some minor inclines. I wore sandals on the way back after soaking in the hot springs (just to give you and idea of how easy the hike is). The hot springs were great. Every pool was its own temperature. The pools closer to the waterfall are hotter than the two creamy blue water pools further away which we stayed at for about 2 hours. Great place to hangout and relax. Come early to snag a parking spot at their small lot and to enojy the pools in peace. Once we left, the parking lot was full and tons of people, family and their kids. read more

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I normally don't write updates this soon after the initial review but I had an experience that I just had to share on Yelp! The hubby and I hiked up here for 4th of July. I wanted to show him the amazing waterfall and enjoy the hot pots together. We arrived at dusk. The view was amazing! and he agreed. The beautiful waterfall and hot water pools nestled in the landscape is breath taking. Yes, there was garbage. Even more than the last time! Despicable! People! Please clean up after yourselves! Unlike the last time, there were fewer party people. It was surprisingly quiet actually. When we arrived, there were three people all together and all were sans-clothing. It weirded out the hubby but I reassured him that it was fine and that he shouldn't feel weird. It turned out that I was so wrong! We started to walk away from the pools near a naked couple to explore our options and as we walk back, I clearly observed the couple having sex! I quickly ushered us back the direction we came! Yes, you read that right, they were having sex in the daylight hours in a public space seconds after the only people around had walked away! They couldn't even wait for it to get dark where no one could see! The extra annoying part was that the couple freaked out everyone who visited the springs and they all ended up in our pool because they didn't want to be near them. Once we settled in, a few of the other non creepy naked soakers let us in on their winter time secrets for accessing the hot springs. They mentioned that the trail is often packed down with ice so bring crampons or yak tracks. Of course, during that time the winter gate is closed so the hike is much longer but maybe worth it if it's less crowded with party people and freaks? Anyway, definitely be wary! Even when there aren't a lot of party people around, you might run into some freaks that don't care to do the dirty deed right in front of you! The sick thing was that we observed families with children hiking back along the trail as we hiked up! Who knows if they left because of that couple. So definitely be prepared to deal with some sickos! read more

Nauseating very strong rotten egg smell from a 1/2 mile to the springs. Think hot day, hiking and sweating to the springs, and then the smell on top of that. So sick. The springs aren't that great. Just kind of rocks to create kind of a place to sit in the shallow water. I would take a road trip to Crystal Hot Springs if it's a hot spring you want to do. Theirs are pools and hot tubs and different temperatures. read more

Hiked from the upper trail which was beautiful with the fall colors. This is probably the last weekend you'll see that much color before they start dropping. There was no one on the trail until we arrived at the hot springs. Even from there no one was on the upper half because there's barely any water in the springs. If you hike down the trail where most people enter from the main trail there's more wholes with water. The trail I took is 5 miles total out and back. It'd be worth doing again in the late spring when the water is running since the trail is parallel to the creek; as of October it was completely dried up. read more

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It's super icy, so wear she was with good grip. It's was definitely still worth it though!

Great hotsprings right off the highway, nice little town. 6 or 7 different temp pools

Literally the best date activity I've ever gone on. Go at night when the sky is clear so you can see the 1000s of stars. That's a must. The water is warm, but don't expect 100 degree hot tub. I never had to get out to cool down. The trail will take you 50 minutes to walk one-way, so be prepared for a little mud and snow depending on the time of year. I wish there had been trail markers because I felt lost the whole time. read more

It's a good hike but too crowded like a Disneyland, not able to use the hotspring since theres a lot of people congregating and the water is gray, not same as the pictures. Some people unleashed their dogs too.. read more

Fifth Water Hot Springs - Crowded hotspring. - Hiking Near Me - Spanish Fork, Utah

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A fairly easy hike up to the hot springs (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours). There are maybe 6-8 little camping spots along the way off the trail; basically just a firepit and relatively clear patches of ground. The springs themselves range from searingly hot to luke warm, depending on where you get in and how the water's moving. There are a few really big areas where lots of people can squeeze in, and a few more intimate pools for couples or groups of 6 or so. The hiking is quite beautiful and follows the canyon stream. There are a couple places in the trail where it's very narrow, and one place in particular where the trail is falling off the hill and there's a big tree to the right making it feel a bit dicey going across. Yes, there is a fair amount of trash on the ground in the heavily trafficked areas, so please take everything out plus more if you can. read more

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When you get to the trailhead, go straight, not over the little bridge. We were lucky that people told us where to go but we spoke to other people in the car park that didn't get there. There's a map which is a little hard to decipher & no signs to tell you where to go. The road was closed just beyond the trailhead parking when we were here so we were pretty lucky. It had snowed pretty heavily the night before. It was a few days after Thanksgiving when we came out. This hike was harder than we expected, due to the ice/snow & we didn't come out till the afternoon so the trail had already been pretty trampled. it was still pretty busy but a lot less busy than what I've heard about summer. It was well worth the effort. One part of the trail that was steep & iced over was particularly hard to get up & risky as it was almost like a cliff edge down to the creek. Most other parts that were difficult you could get around pretty easily. It gets dark about 5pm in Winter so we left about 4pm from the hot spring to get to the car in enough time. There were quite a few people heading out there for the evening, not sure if they would be camping but it would have been pitch black by the time they would get to the springs. I'm pretty game but not that game! Watch out for deer especially if you're driving back in the dark, there's heaps out there. read more

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Nice hike along river. Didn't see much wildlife but it was really shaded and not hot at all. We enjoyed the waterfalls and hot baths. read more

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Seriously so magical! We came here this past weekend. It was cover in snow. The road to get there is all paved. I would say this hike takes about 2 hours each way in the snow. It's definitely a slippery trail. Hiking shoes is a must! Make sure you bring snow gear otherwise you will be freezing! We saw a few people with bikes however if you are not an experienced biker I would not recommend this in the snow. There is only on trail so you can't get lost. Once you pass the second bridge you are half way there. The place gets extremely crowded. The parking lot is small. You must get here early. There is no charge to park but there is a small fee if you would like to camp in diamond campground. We saw a few people camping which is insane. read more

Look deep into nature as you do the family-friendly hike at Fifth Water Hot Spring's, you will put life into perspective and understand everything better. Just living is not enough...one must have sunshine, freedom and in this case, amazing falls. The hike, which is a 2.5-mile round trip, is mostly flat and is at a relatively low attitude. To avoid the crowd and capture the best photos, it is best to go there in either early summer or early autumn. The only bathroom and sole trash can are in the beginning of the trail. Bring your own toilet paper and sanitizer as the bathroom is primitive. Last but not least, this is one of the few Utah trails that allow dogs without permits. However, small dogs may struggle to climb up the area next to the fall. Finally, enjoy the color of the spirits in the hot springs! read more

Fifth Water Hot Springs - Summer bliss - Hiking Near Me - Spanish Fork, Utah

We were uber lucky in that we got to the trailhead at 7am and there was only one car in the lot. Follow the directions on the website above and you will not miss it! We arrived before the hot morning sun and had the lower pools all to ourselves. We didn't realize there were more pools above the waterfall but it worked out because there was a couple there. We soaked naked and it was so beautiful. The water was clear and clean, no harsh smell, and the sounds of the creek/waterfall were soothing. The hike was easy and lovely except for garbage here and there. There was much more garbage in the parking lot. I don't blame the springs for that. It saddens me to know that people think that they can trash a place, use it, and not care. Get to the springs very early for privacy! as we were hiking back, several people were hiking in. read more

Great hike! I was expecting to see more animals, especially because I had been warned about snakes, but my friend and I had no problems. The hike is mostly up-hill but not steep whatsoever. You get a great view of the river the entire time but the best is once you finally reach the top where the hot springs are. There are two hot springs at the top then, if you keep hiking up, you'll see warmer hot springs next to the waterfall. If you continue up about .8 miles you'll finder two more that look like that first two. Definitely get there early in the morning if you want to have the hot springs to yourself. I'm looking forward to doing this hike again in the fall and winter. Loved it! read more

We LOVE this hike!! The 5th Water Hot Springs in Spanish Fork Canyon is a 2.5-mile hike that leads hikers to the most stunning hot spring & waterfall in Utah County. The trail was very easy to follow with the first half hugging the left side of Sixth Water Creek. Just over one mile in, we reached a foot bridge that crossed Sixth Water Creek. While relaxing in the hot pools, we moved around to different parts of the pool to adjust the temperature. The water in the pools were clear but does have a slight smell of sulfur. We hiked in pretty early and enjoyed the sun coming up at the hot pods. On our way out however we encountered mass amounts of other hikers. Almost too many to really enjoy the pools if we had hiked in later. Check out our YouTube showing highlights of our hike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0GKVtpix10&t=102s read more