Hot Springs, MT

Hot Springs sits on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Sanders County, and its name is as direct as a local invitation. The town began in the 1890s as the settlements of Pineville and Camas, both names tied to the camas plant found in the surrounding prairie. It was incorporated in 1929 and was also known as Camas Hot Springs, a reminder that the mineral water has been part of the place’s identity from the start. Here, geology and town history share the same sign.

People still come to Hot Springs to soak in mineral water, with the town’s lodging history gathered around places such as the National Register-listed Symes Hotel and Alameda’s, a vintage 1930s spa motel with private baths fed by lithium-rich water. The Hot Springs School District carries the community from kindergarten through twelfth grade, giving a very small town a full local school arc. The result is a place with two steady currents: the everyday life of a reservation community and the restorative, old-fashioned spa tradition that brings visitors through town.