Saco, Montana: Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs

Hot mineral water springs accidentally discovered in 1922 during oil drilling, flowing at 750 gallons a minute. The kitschy facility dates from the 1930s, peaked in the 1970s.

Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs

This is the most disgusting, spooky, smelly hot springs I've ever been to. The minute we drove up, it looked like an abandoned ghost town where anything gross or scary could be lurking around the corner. We walked in and not one soul was around. Finally a woman popped out from a corner and asked if we wanted a room.

Straight ahead you could see and smell the hot springs. The smell was a mix of methane gas (sewer smell), algae, mold and sulfur. The water was green. There was one person in there swimming around. The woman took us to a room at my husband's request (I wanted to walk straight out of there), and we trekked down a long, dark, smelly hallway. The room was dark, dingy and smelled. I said, "Let's go." My husband started saying, "It's...." until he saw my "look" and we said no thank you. The woman was smiling and very pleasant, however. She did not seem surprised or affected by our disgust.

A man came running up the hallway with a big smile on his face and said, so and so "said two people were here!" He was very excited. As we kept walking, I could see he was the cook.

[G. Winters, 03/02/2012]

Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs

This is just about a mile north of the Sleeping Buffalo Rock historic point. It's about 10 miles West of Saco and 17 miles East of Malta on Hwy 2. Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs is funky, but it is a hot spring. The place is going down the tubes, but there is some interesting history, and the springs still work. There is also camping, a little store, a restaurant, and a bar.

[Phrank, 09/08/2011]