Jerry Johnson Hot Springs

Jerry Johnson Hot Springs is a group of thermal springs along Warm Springs Creek, a tributary of the Lochsa River, on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests in Idaho County, Idaho. The springs lie in cedar forest a short distance up the creek from U.S. Highway 12, and the trail beyond them continues into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

The Warm Springs Trailhead is on Highway 12 at milepost 152, on the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway, about an hour from Lolo, Montana, and a little over an hour and a half from Kooskia, Idaho. From the trailhead, a pack bridge crosses the Lochsa River to Warm Springs Creek Trail #49, which the Forest Service lists at 14.5 miles in total. Guides put the springs about 1.4 miles up the trail. Forest Service rules make the springs day use only, open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and overnight camping at the springs is not permitted. The Forest Service lists the trailhead as open year-round and does not list a fee. Jerry Johnson Campground, across the highway from the river, has 20 sites open from about June 6 to October 31 at $14 per night, without drinking water.

The springs carry the name of Jerry Johnson, who prospected and trapped along the Lochsa in the late 1800s, according to local histories. On September 26, 1893, the Carlin hunting party reached the Lochsa River a short distance below the mouth of Warm Springs Creek. Highway 12 follows the Lochsa east to Lolo Pass on the Montana line, and the nearest services are at Powell and Lochsa Lodge to the east. Weir Creek Hot Springs is another thermal site along the same highway corridor to the west.