After lunch at The Orchard House, we headed south on Highway 55 through the darling little town of Marsing, where we got onto Highway 78 for an afternoon of leisurely swimming at Givens Hot Springs. Founded 127 years ago, the site was settled by the Givens family, who were Oregon Trail pioneers. They created some private pools that became so popular, especially with miners who looked for the miracle waters to soothe their ailments, that the Givens' built a hotel in 1903. Unfortunately, the hotel burned down in 1939, but there is still a campground and the current poolhouse was built on the site in 1952.
We got to the pool around 1pm and paid the $19 for admission ($7 per adult, $5 per child, and babies swim free). The caretaker, who is a descendant of the Givens family, was very kind, and gave Lucy a quarter from the register and kept calling her "Two Bit." The poolhouse seems to be pretty much in its original 1950s condition (with a working telephone booth still out front, which was a pleasant surprise for me). The dressing rooms (complete with showers) and the pool were both clean and spacious. The pool water was warm and lovely, and there is a separate wading pool for little ones (you can see Eric, Lucy and Alice in it above). Fun floaty devices can be rented for minimal fees (we brought our own). There were only a few families with young children, so the atmosphere was pretty calm. After about 2 hours we decided to move on to our next adventure, and finished up our stay at Givens Hot Springs with 25cent Popsicles that we ate outside in their picnic area. A great time was had by all, and we felt like we were celebrating summer early!