LOLO HOT SPRINGS RESORT

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were the first visitors to Lolo Hot Springs to leave a written record. On September 13, 1805, the thirty-three men of the Corps of Discovery and their Shoshone guide Sacagawea reached the springs. The trail from the Bitterroot Valley had been long and hard, with dense stands of lodgepole pine impeding progress. The explorers were trying desperately to get across the Continental Divide before the winter snows covered the trail over Lolo Pass. 

 

In his journals Captain Clark described his first impressions: 

 

“Passed several springs which I observed the deer, elk, etc. had made roads to, and below one of the Indians had made a hole to bathe. I tasted this water and found it hot and not bad tasted. In further examination I found this water nearly boiling hot at the places it spouted from the rocks. I put my finger in the water, at first could not bear it in a second.”

 

On their return from the Pacific Ocean in late June of the following year, Lewis and Clark had more time to enjoy Lolo Hot Springs. In his journals Clark noted the soaks enjoyed by his comrades: 

 

“These warm or hot springs are situated at the base of a hill of no considerable height. . . . The principal spring is about the temperature of the warmest baths used at the Hot Springs in Virginia. In this bath which had been prepared by the Indians by stopping the river with stone and mud, I bathed and remained in 10 minutes. It was with difficulty I could remain this long and it caused a profuse sweat. Two other bold springs adjacent to this are much warmer, their heat being so great as to make the hand of a person smart extremely when immersed. We think the temperature of those springs about the same as that of the hottest of the hot springs of Virginia. Both the men and the Indians amused themselves with the use of the bath this evening. I observe after the Indians remaining in the hot bath as long as they could bear it run and plunge themselves into the creek, the water of which is now as cold as ice can make it. After remaining here a few minutes they return again to the warm bath, repeating the transition several times, but always ending with the warm bath.”

 

Trappers followed in Lewis and Clark’s footsteps, harvesting fur-bearing animals from the streams and meadows near the springs. In 1810 a Frenchman named Lolo trapped beaver in the nearby streams and became the namesake for both the old pack trail and the hot springs. 

 

Many travelers visited the hot springs on the Lolo Trail in the 1800s. In 1885 Fred Lembke purchased the springs and surrounding land and constructed a small resort. In addition to a hot-water plunge, the early resort featured a hotel, dining room, cabins, saloon, and a store. 

 

Summer supplies were brought to the springs by a four- or six-horse freight wagon, but winter provisions had to be transported through the deep snows by sleigh. The number of visitors dropped significantly in the winter because of the difficulty of travel, although some guests enjoyed the snowy isolation 

 

Paul Gerber purchased the Lolo property in 1903. He doubled the size of the resort to almost 400 acres, and business increased as road access to Missoula improved. Labor Day and the Fourth of July were especially busy. During one of these weekends, more than 500 tents surrounded the hot springs. 

 

Lolo Hot Springs remained in the Gerber family for 60 years. In 2007 the resort was purchased by Brent Olsen, the current owner. 

                                                         -From “Touring Montana and Wyoming Hot Springs” by Jeff Birkby​​​​​​​