Scenic Hot Springs

mm 2454.7 If you were to exit the PCT at this point, via Surprise Creek, you would emerge at the site of a once world renowned resort.

The rail line over Stevens Pass was completed in 1893, and in 1904 an impressive 3-story establishment called Great Northern Hot Springs Hotel opened near where the rails did a 180 degree turn near where Scenic Creek enters the Tye River. The hot springs were advertised as a medicinal treatment.

At some point J.V. Prosser and George Murphy purchased the hot springs and hotel from I.G. McCain. The new owners changed the name to Scenic Hot Springs and enlarged the hotel from 50 rooms to 100 rooms. It was finished in oak, had electric lights, steam heat, call bells, and dining room service. The baths were on the lower floor. The spring water flowed down to the hotel from the hot springs, more than ¾ miles away, in 4 inch pipes made of cedar wood. In November 1908 the new hotel burned to the ground. Prosser was badly burned trying to save papers and money from the safe but there were no deaths.

A new hotel was built in only six months and opened for business in early June 1909. It had 60 larger rooms. Like the previous hotel, the lower floor were the hot baths. The hotel was a summer and winter resort with regular train service.

The following year, late February 1910, the world’s attention was focused on the Wellington disaster which occurred less than three miles up the valley from the hotel. The hotel was the last stop on the line with working telegraph service during the ordeal. Some fortunate people had managed to hike to the hotel from the train in the blizzard to escape the avalanche danger, ultimatley a wise decision. The hotel became headquarters for rescue efforts.

When the second tunnel was built under Stevens Pass, the new rail route effectively buried the hotel, and it was torn down just months after the tunnel opened.

The location of the hotel was approximately where the Surprise Creek Trailhead is today.

Today hikers can visit the hot springs by reservation. They are only a 3.3 mile hike from Hope Lake, or up from US-2

The reason the tracks did a 180 turn near the hotel was because even after the first tunnel was built, the train had to do two 180 degree turns in order to handle the rapid elevation change of the west side of the pass. The other 180 degree turn happened inside the mountain next to Martin Creek. When the engineer came out one side of the horseshoe tunnel, he could see the end of the train entering the same tunnel.

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