Kropp Hot Spring
Kropp Hot Spring emerges at 109°F, flowing 61 degrees above ambient at 3,227 feet elevation in Union County's Blue Mountains. The roadside spring sits 65 meters from Bidwell Road near Union in mixed conifer forest receiving 24 inches of precipitation and 73 inches of annual snow.
The spring flows in mountain terrain where elevations support Douglas fir, grand fir, and ponderosa pine. This zone averages 48°F annually with moisture patterns creating significant winter snowpack that lingers into late spring. The Blue Mountains rise prominently to the west where Anthony Lake sits at higher elevation 28 kilometers distant in historic CCC-built guard station country.
The Kropp name likely references early homesteaders or ranchers who settled Union County valleys during the late 19th century, though specific documentation has not been located. The spring appears in federal thermal inventories without detailed development history, suggesting it has remained largely natural through time under multiple ownership or management regimes.
Access from Union via county roads that may be snow-covered November through May. Visit summer through fall when roads clear and temperatures moderate. The spring's position 65 meters from Bidwell Road allows easy walking. Anthony Lake Guard Station provides historic cabin rental 28 kilometers west for those exploring the Blue Mountains backcountry with advance reservations required.
Is Kropp Hot Spring worth visiting?
Best for
- Hot spring soaking
- Easy day trips
- Overnight camping trips
Overview Anthony Lake forms the source of Anthony Creek, named for William 'Doc' Anthony, an ambitious homesteader who came to Baker County in 1864. He was a farmer and a doctor, collected tolls on the Dealy Wagon Road for a time, and ran his ranch until he died in 1914 at age 85. Anthony Lake Guard Station is a historic Civilian Conservation Corps log cabin built in the 1930s - one of only a few Forest Service cabins built of logs. For questions for Anthony Lake, Grande Ronde Lake, Mud Lake,...