After a long day of hiking in Zion National Park, mountain biking near Hurricane, or exploring the stunning state parks of southern Utah, there’s nothing better than relaxing your sore muscles with a long, hot soak. Unfortunately, the closest Zion hot springs — Pah Tempeh hot springs — closed in 2013 due to threats from fallen rocks, erosion, and a lack of maintenance.
A rendering of the resort, set to open in 2025. Photo: Zion Canyon Hot Springs
A Long-Closed Hot Spring Resort Is Finally Reopening Near Zion National Park
But hikers and bikers can rejoice, because in about one year, the springs will once again be available for soaking — and they’ll have saunas, lounge chairs, and cocktail service, too.
The New Zion Canyon Hot Springs is set to have a whopping 53 pools. The majority (32) will be fed by the natural springs, while another 16 will have minerals added to enhance their natural benefits. There will also be three cold-dip pools, a hot tub, and a freshwater swimming pool, as well as a retail area, an on-site restaurant and bar service, and and adults-only area, encompassing more than half the pools.
A rendering of the main pool area at Zion Canyon Hot Springs, set to open in 2025. Photo: Zion Canyon Hot Springs
The 15-acre property will set very close to the closed Pah Tempeh springs (also known as the La Verkin Hot Springs, the La Verkin Sulphur Springs, and Dixie Hot Springs) in La Verkin, Utah, and will pump the naturally hot water into the various pools before re-circulating it into the Virgin River — the same river that runs through Zion National Park. It’s expected to pump about 2,000 gallons per minute, which will be filtered before it returns to the river.
While that may raise some eyebrows with environmentalists, regional water experts actually told ABC 4 News in Utah that it’s likely to be beneficial. The water pumped from Zion Canyon Hot Springs back into the river will be colder than the natural pools, which range from 90 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s likely to help the river’s fish, which can currently overheat in areas near the spring.
In the early 1900s, the hot springs had been developed into a popular resort with an indoor pool. Photo: Washington County Historical Society/Dixie State College
The hot springs have long been a popular destination in Utah, and records of their go back as far as the 1800s. According to the Washington County Historical Society, the springs were used by Indigenous Americans, and later by Mormon settlers. In the early 1900s, the land was purchased by a company intending to build a hot springs resort. That company built many of the manmade pools at the springs, but the resort operated for only a few years before once again going private.
In the 1950s, the area reopened as the Dixie Hot Springs Resort, and soon after, the name was changed to “Pah Tempeh,” meaning “water from the rock” in the language of the local Ute people. It went through a few different ownership groups until the 1980s, when nearby construction caused the springs to occasionally go dry. Owners made one last attempt to operate a resort, but ownership eventually transferred to a local water authority. While it was used off and on for the better part of a century, it permanently closed to the public in 2013 for safety concerns.
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The new Zion hot springs will be open for day visits, and resort sources told Matador day passes will likely be around $65 per day, with discounts available for local residents and children. The springs will be managed by WorldSprings Resorts, which currently runs two hot springs properties in the US: WorldSprings Grandmark in Texas, and WorldSprings at the Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The new Zion hot springs will be built at a cost of around $60 million, and construction began in March 2024. La Verkin sits about 30 minutes from Zion National Park. 