Hot Springs on VI (1 Viewer)

[GTSSportCoupe]

Came across an interesting paragraph that mentioned multiple hot springs on Vancouver Island (while reading a general article). Everyone knows of 'Hot Springs Cove' north of Tofino, but it turns out there are a number more than that. Of course my dream would be to find something I could wheel to...

I suspect that those in the know don't talk about exact locations though for obvious reasons. Here is the paragraph I read, (and the hotsprings do show up in very generalized locations on my backroads mapbook gps map):

"
Other hot springs reported to be on Vancouver Island include; springs on the Mate Islands, the small group of islands located across from Hot Springs Cove; a hot spring in Kyuquot Sound, close to Fair Harbour; hot springs near the lower rapids of the Kennedy River, near Tofino; and Pipestem Inlet, on the north shore of Barkley Sound north of the Broken Group Islands.
"

Ramsay Hot Springs - Hot Springs Cove - the one that is commonly known and can be reached by boat or air from Tofino

Sharp Point Hot Springs - Mate Island (across from Ramsay Hot Springs)

Ahousat Hot Springs - Gibson Marine Park - The Ahousat hot springs are situated on the shores of Matilda Inlet, on the south side of Flores Island, in Gibson Marine Provincial Park. The natural spring flows up into a concrete tank and is clear and tasteless with a maximum temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. A non-maintained path connects the hot springs to the sandy beaches of Whitesand Cove.

Kennedy River Hot Springs - Near the lower rapids of the Kennedy River (near Tofino)

Pipestone Hot Springs - Near Pipestem Inlet in Barkley Sound

Fair Harbour Hot Springs - Near Fair Harbour in Kyuquot Sound (North West of Zeballos)

Drift Whale Bay Hot Springs - North East Corner of Drift Whale Bay on Brooks Peninsula

Probably the only ones that are anywhere close to being accessible by vehicle are the Kennedy River and Fair Harbour Hot Springs. Would love to find these.

Maybe some of you know where they are...I could move this article to the members only section if it gets interesting.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Now I have somewhere to go in the winter for wheeling! What a great idea. I'm familiar with the area around Kennedy Lk, wish
I'd known. Any time you want to wander around Zeballos let me know.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Ramsay Hot Springs

Ahousat Hot Springs - doesn't look particularly inviting...haha

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Now I have somewhere to go in the winter for wheeling! What a great idea. I'm familiar with the area around Kennedy Lk, wish
I'd known. Any time you want to wander around Zeballos let me know.

I'd most definitely like to try to find them. The Kennedy Lk one would have to be an over-night trip. The Zeballos ones probably a couple nights; that is a long ways away. Always wanted to head out that way though.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Can you link Tahsis to Zeballos, or do you have to go around?

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Can you link Tahsis to Zeballos, or do you have to go around?

I think I read about a year ago that you used to be able to go direct on logging roads, but sounds like it was pretty rough. I think these days people go around. Would be fun trying the direct route tho.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Direct would be cool. That is some very intimidating country over there. All roads are steep, and slow.
Going to have to wait awhile for me though, I won't be able to go until late Oct or Nov.

 

[Red9]

I heard the one near Ahousaht is not very warm anymore after the last little quake in the area, would be interested in hunting for the one around kennedy river though

 

[seapotato]

I heard the one near Ahousaht is not very warm anymore after the last little quake in the area, would be interested in hunting for the one around kennedy river though

It's kinda freaky the way that happens. I heard the ones in the queen charlottes went cold after a quake too.


Just hope they don't go the other way and parboil you....

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Just thinking of easy ways to locate these hot springs....I've got a FLIR thermal camera at work. When the weather is cool for max contrast, it would be easy to spot hot areas. Now, just need gsb15 to fly me over the areas with the camera in hand....haha.

Here is a thermal image of hot springs by a river. The thermal image is overlaid on a regular image.

 

[cruiserpilot]

I'm thinking my IR beats your IR, HeHe! Only 15K / hr!

 

[cruiserpilot]

I'm thinking my IR beats your IR, HeHe!! Only $15K/hr

 

[Greg_B]

My folks were over for a visit from the Sunshine coast and mentioned they had just seen on the BBC show "Click" an IR that hooks up to a smart phone. Not sure all that are out there, but this is one from a quick search: http://obtain.thermal.com/product-p/lw-aaa.htm I could see many uses for something like this.

Sorry for the intrusion...back to Hot Springs discussion.

gb

 

[cruiserpilot]

My folks were over for a visit from the Sunshine coast and mentioned they had just seen on the BBC show "Click" an IR that hooks up to a smart phone. Not sure all that are out there, but this is one from a quick search: http://obtain.thermal.com/product-p/lw-aaa.htm I could see many uses for something like this.

Sorry for the intrusion...back to Hot Springs discussion.

gb

No, don't apologize because it's relevant. I mean Kennedy Lake is a hot spot for Sasquatches, and sitting around a hot spring
in the dark is liable to bring them in, you want to be ready. J

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Found a pretty cool map of most of the known hot springs in BC (107 of them). It gives rough coordinates (degrees/minutes longitude/latitude) and some info on each hot spring. It confirms the existence of the springs discussed above. Problem is the rough coordinates are not really enough to work with (about one square km of ambiguity). The springs are shown as diamonds on the map. Also, the Kennedy and Fair Harbour spring locations are not 'confirmed' according to the map legend.

http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Ge...atalogue/Maps/Documents/GeoThermRes_small.pdf

 

[Sweatyforehead]

Problem is the rough coordinates are not really enough to work with (about one square km of ambiguity). The springs are shown as diamonds on the map. Also, the Kennedy and Fair Harbour spring locations are not 'confirmed' according to the map legend.

http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Ge...atalogue/Maps/Documents/GeoThermRes_small.pdf

Looks like we need to spend a couple days "making sure" that the springs are there!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Looks like we need to spend a couple days "making sure" that the springs are there!

I'm definitely up for it. Just a matter of finding a couple days, haha.

So from that map, the coordinates for the different springs are as follows:

S57 - Fair Harbour - 50°04'N 127°05'W
S83 - Sharp Point - 49°21'N 126°16'W
S84 - Ahousat - 49°16'N 126°04'W
S85 - Kennedy River - 49°05'N 125°35'W
S86 - Pipestone - 49°03'N 125°12'W

You can copy/paste those coordinates right into google maps. It's clear that the Kennedy River one is out quite a bit as it shows up right in the middle of the lake. I'm starting to think it might be possible to drive to the Pipestone one...

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Another fascinating document. Work done by BC Hydro in the 70's looking for Geothermal sources on VI: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/DownloadAsset?assetId=3C03B7A2680C4AC485A4B2BB449D666E&filename=gt8.pdf

And a good thread on a hot springs forum with some local legend and knowledge of VI: http://www.soakersforum.com/3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2218&hilit=Fair+harbour

Another good thread: http://www.soakersforum.com/3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1631

Lots of ideas to check out now.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

OK, I've narrowed down the Kennedy River spring location to a very small area. I basically know where it is within probably a 30M section on the bank of the river (I even know which side). Just gotta find some time to get out there... With the thermal camera, if the springs are still there they'll show up pretty quickly. Will require some bush wacking; but not too bad.

 

[tweeek]

Be sure to check out virgin falls when you are up that way. Roads are rough but high clearance 2wd.