Hot pots are natural hot-water springs that form crater-like depressions usually 10 to 20 feet in diameter in mounds of tufa (calcium carbonate) that are typically 3 to 10 feet high.
Several dozen active hot pots are near the town of Midway in northwestern Wasatch County. The largest hot pot in this area is the Homestead Crater, which is over 200 feet in diameter, 55 feet high, and the water inside the crater is over 65 feet deep. A 110-foot-long tunnel provides access to the water for soaking, swimming, and scuba diving.
Hot pot located across the road from the Homestead Crater. Backpack for scale.
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The water source for these springs is from rain and snow falling on the Wasatch Range west of Midway. Although much of this precipitation ends up in streams, evaporates, or is used by plants, some seeps into the ground and becomes ground water.
This ground water slowly migrates downward along faults and fractures through the bedrock and then is heated within the earth's interior. From depths of at least 5,000 feet, the heated ground water rises through faults and fractures to the surface in the Midway area.
Entrance to the Homestead Crater.
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Water temperature in the hot pots varies from 54 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. In some cases, water temperature in adjacent hot pots may vary by as much as 30 degrees.
At the Homestead Crater, the water temperature remains relatively constant at 95 to 96 degrees Fahrenheit. The variability of hot pot temperatures can result from seasonal changes in water level in the hot pots and the amount of mixing of hot and cold spring water.
When the spring water rises to the surface, carbon dioxide gas is released (the bubbles you see rising in the hot pots). This changes the chemistry of the water and causes calcium carbonate to precipitate as tufa. Over hundreds of years, the tufa builds up around the springs and forms the characteristic mounds and crater-like depressions of the hot pots.
Logging Requirements:
- (optional) post a photo of you at any of the hot pots in Midway.
( The following information is available near the posted coordinates for the cache )
Please answer at least one of the following :
- How many steps take you to the top of "The Crater" ?
- What is one of the practical uses of the Crater?
- Approximately what year did the Crater begin to form?