Banbury Hot Springs, Buhl

With 4 outdoor public pools, 6 VIP pools, and 15 private pools with adjustable temperatures and adjacent changing rooms, Miracle Hot Springs is the picture of a pristine modern resort. But it's gone through a lot of past lives to get there. The land's original owners dropped old car bodies into the natural spring to make its soft, warm, highly alkaline waters pool together and allow a well to be drilled. In the years that followed, those waters were used for bathing sheep, heating chicken coops, and irrigating patches of particularly delectable watermelons whose seeds sprouted new springs.

n 1957, Dean M. Olsen found the then-abandoned hot spring on a canyon hike, and finally began to set the waters on a new course: human relaxation. Today, Dean's son Larry D. Olsen carries on the family legacy at the geothermal-driven resort. Steam rises from the pools throughout the year as visitors float or paddle in the natural spring waters.

Massage therapists also practice the art of relaxation, and visitors can even make a weekend getaway out of their trip, thanks to the Miracle Hot Springs campground. The grounds have spots for tents and RVs, but they also include camping domes: furnished geodesic structures where hot water heats the floors.