Superlatives of the soaking world
The records wall
The deepest, oldest, hottest, most remote and most beautiful waters on earth — a wall of quiet superlatives for the curious soaker.
Deepest spring
1,002 ft
Mother Spring
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
The deepest geothermal spring ever measured on earth, feeding 50+ pools above the San Juan River.
Oldest bathhouse
~3,000 yrs
Dōgo Onsen
Matsuyama, Japan
In continuous operation since roughly 1000 BC, with an imperial bathing chamber preserved from 1899.
Largest pool
1,000,000 gal
Glenwood Hot Springs
Colorado, USA
405 ft long — the largest outdoor thermal pool in the world, kept at a steady 90°F.
Highest altitude
4,400 m
Termas de Polques
Bolivian Altiplano
A soakable geothermal pool at 14,400 ft, on the desert road to the Salar de Uyuni.
Most colorful
87°C
Grand Prismatic Spring
Yellowstone, USA
Heat-loving bacteria paint five concentric color rings around a scalding, lifeless blue center.
Most remote
−40°C air
Liard River Hot Springs
British Columbia, Canada
Soakable year-round, even when winter air plunges far below zero in the northern boreal forest.
Most springs, one city
2,000+
Beppu
Kyushu, Japan
More hot spring vents than anywhere on earth, including the boiling, brilliantly colored "Hells."
Hottest in Europe
82°C
Chaudes-Aigues
Cantal, France
The Par spring emerges hot enough to have heated village homes since the 14th century.
Most constant
37°C exactly
Terme di Saturnia
Tuscany, Italy
Body temperature, unchanged through recorded history — the Etruscans built a road to reach it.
Largest thermal lake
5,200 m²
Lake Hévíz
Hévíz, Hungary
The largest naturally warm bathing lake in the world, swimmable through the depths of winter.
Most generous
CC0 / free
Cascate del Mulino
Saturnia, Italy
Sulfur waterfalls open to all, at any hour, for free — and for the last two thousand years.
Most architectural
60,000 slabs
Therme Vals
Vals, Switzerland
Peter Zumthor cut a temple of quartzite into the mountainside — a pilgrimage site for architects.
Every record here is a doorway. Follow it to the bathhouse or spring behind it.