Takhini Hot Springs

The springs have been used since at least 1907 and feed outdoor pools at around forty-two degrees, high in calcium and magnesium and odourless, since there is no sulphur in the water. The winter tradition is the point: from about November to March, when air temperatures drop below minus twenty, bathers dip their heads and sculpt their wet hair, which freezes solid within minutes, and an annual hair-freezing contest with cash prizes has drawn entries from around the world. Photographs from it circulate widely each winter. The site also has camping, a cafe and horse riding, and the aurora is visible from the pools on clear winter nights.

History

The springs were known as Jim Boss' Bathtub, after the First Nations chief whose village was on the marsh, and First Nations used them for centuries; William Puckett and A. R. Gordon applied to lease the land in 1902 and bought it for $2 an acre in 1907, promoting the water for its therapeutic value. The first pool, of wood and canvas, was built in the 1940s for the United States Army building the Alaska Highway, a concrete pool followed in 1950 and the present pool and building in the 1970s (Wikipedia, Takhini Hot Springs).

Highlights

• The outdoor pools - forty-two degree mineral water in the open air.
• The hair-freezing contest - wet hair sculpted and frozen at minus twenty and below.
• The aurora - northern lights from the water on clear winter nights.
• The odourless water - calcium and magnesium without sulphur.

When to go

Year-round; winter is the distinctive season, with the hair-freezing contest running roughly December to March when temperatures allow. Summer has long daylight and no aurora.

What to expect

The hair-freezing only works below about minus twenty, so mild winters disappoint. Getting out of the pool in that cold is genuinely unpleasant. The pools are busy on winter weekends.

Nearby

Whitehorse lies south; the Yukon Wildlife Preserve is adjacent.

Key facts