Soda Springs Geyser – Soda Springs, Idaho

Soda Springs Geyser is a semi-man made and regulated geyser located in a city park in Soda Springs, Idaho. This is a very unique roadside attraction that you’ll want to check out if you’re in the area. Unlike the geysers and geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park, Soda Springs eruptions are 100% controlled by man, so if you like geysers, it might be worth your time to stop and see how a geyser works when intercepted by humans.

Geyser Park – Details

Location:
E 1st Street
Soda Springs, Idaho 83276

Admission: Free

Parking: Free

Eruption: Soda Springs geyser erupts every hour, on the hour. This geyser is on a timer and will start erupting on the hour, every hour of the day – 24/7/365.

Soda Springs Geyser – History and background

Soda Springs geyser was discovered over 80 years ago when workers were drilling to make a swimming pool. A worker accidentally hit a carbon dioxide chamber 315 feet underground while searching for a warm water source, releasing warm mineral water up 100 feet into the air. And so, Soda Springs Geyser was born.

The National Park Service got wind of this new fan-dangled geyser and told them to cap it, as they claimed it was messing up Old Faithful’s schedule. The town complied, but instead of sealing it off completely, they installed a mechanical valve with a timer to let the geyser go off at set intervals. I suppose the town figured that this geyser they found was an interesting way to get their town on the map! So, Soda Springs didn’t ever get that swimming pool, but instead, got the world’s only captive geyser.

A captive geyser means that meaning that the geyser is ‘capped’ by a mechanical valve and set to go off on a timer controlled by City Hall. If the geyser was left uncontrolled, it would just spew mineral water into the air 24/7.

The water it spews isn’t hot – it’s only 70-80 degrees F, so if you do happen to come during an eruption, you won’t be scaled by a stray droplet. And you may get wet – the direction and projection of the water will depend on which way the wind is blowing!

Visiting Soda Springs Geyser

The setting of the Soda Springs geyser isn’t exactly…scenic. It’s located behind a bunch of downtown businesses and shops, adjacent to a cemetery and some sort of industrial plant.

Despite its rather ugly setting, the park itself is pretty nice – Soda Springs Geyser is surrounded by boardwalks, with interpretive signs along the way as you walk around the geyser, picnic tables and a restroom. It’s a very short walk from the parking lot and the boardwalk trail around the geyser will only take about 10 minutes, if you’re stopping to read everything.

When I arrived in town, I had just missed its eruption, so in order to see Soda Springs Geyser erupt, I’d have to hang out for another hour and, well, I didn’t want to do that. So instead, I just walked around the geyser, read the signs and continued on my way.

Soda Springs Geyser – Final Thoughts

If you’ve never seen a geothermal feature before, you’ll probably enjoy this – and if you’re not en route to Yellowstone, you really should stick around for its eruption. But if you’ve been to nearby Yellowstone National Park, you may be a bit disappointed, especially since the geysers and geothermal features in Yellowstone are 100% natural. Knowing that Soda Springs Geyser’s eruptions are controlled by a man-behind-the-curtain, and not Mother Nature herself takes some of the fun waiting for an eruption. Also, unlike Old Faithful, there are no crowds here!

Have you ever seen Soda Springs Geyser? What did you think?