Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge — Hot Springs Primitive Camp

Hart Mountain’s hot springs camp is the real deal — a clothing-optional concrete tub fed by a geothermal spring sitting right at the edge of a primitive camp area managed by USFWS. No fee, no hookups, no reservations, vault toilets only. You park your rig in the sagebrush, soak under the stars, and wake up to pronghorn cutting across the ridge. It’s on the Warner Valley Desert Rim run between Hart Mountain and Frenchglen, so it drops naturally into that route. Can fill up on holiday weekends but empties fast — midweek is wide open.

Access from Frenchglen via the gravel refuge road is passable for most high-clearance 2WD rigs in dry conditions. The road from Plush to the north is rougher and longer. No cell service. Water from the spring is not treated — bring your own drinking water. Season is year-round but snow can close the road November through April.

Free hot spring soak deep in the Oregon desert