Liard Hot Springs

Liard Hot Springs

We had heard about these hot springs, and because we enjoyed the ones at Chena outside of Fairbanks, we decided to stop here.  We ended up staying two days.

The Hot Springs were a favorite spot for the Kaska Indians originally. During the building of the Alaska Highway, there was a major camp across the Liard River (a liard is a poplar tree in French).  The workers would come across on the ferry, and once a week the women working at a field hospital there were allowed to use it.  When the highway opened to the public, it became a tourist spot.

There are lovely campgrounds here, and the hot springs are about a quarter of a mile up a boardwalk.  When it starts out, there are wetlands, fed by the hot water (which contains sulfur.)  A small lake chub lives here, unusual in the hot temperatures. (Looks like a guppy.)

 As the walk progresses, there are dramatic changes in the plants.  There are 250 boreal forest plants that live here, including 14 orchid species and 14 plants that survive here because of the hot springs that aren’t otherwise found at this latitude, like the ostrich fern. There are lots of large animals (bears, moose, lynx) that frequent this area too, but we didn’t see them.

Just these lovely butterflies.

The springs themselves are picturesque.  The first one is the best, although the second one is also popular because it is deeper.  The temperatures of the water range from 108-126 degrees, and there are lots of hot spots.





Alpha Pool

Beta Pool

A popular thing to do is to go through the hottest part of the pool and place a rock on this formation.  Right behind the rocks is the hottest waterreally bubbling up

It was so relaxing; it was a long walk back down the boardwalk.

We went to the hot springs three times during our stay, and it was a wonderful way to feel that summer was finally here now that it’s the middle of July and we’ve been in the cold weather for so long.

The evening light on our last trip to the springs was peaceful and memorable.