Destination Saunas in Oregon and Beyond

Shvitz in a “wine barrel,” cold plunge in a river, or soak up the steam from a bubbling hot spring.

Save the adrenaline fiends and modern explorers using their PTO for backcountry expeditions, most of us hope to spend our vacation time, you know, relaxing. And when trying to wick away stress, it helps to sweat it out. Scattered across Oregon and Washington, contrast therapy evangelists have set up floating saunas over serene lakes and parked wood-burning trailers near mountain rivers, so sweaty visitors can cool off in the chilly waters of the Pacific Northwest. And while several hotels and resorts will stick a basic electric sauna near the hot tub or spa, a few spots have invested in truly spectacular soaking or shvitzing setups, from cabins hidden in the wilderness to huts hazy with hot spring steam. Below, find an array of destination-worthy saunas and steam rooms—some found within  inns and lodges, others open to outside guests hoping for an out-of-town sweat session. For something closer to home, our local sauna guide may help.

Sosta House

Washington County | Price: Included with stay; reservations start at $200 per night | Swimsuit? Yes, required

The electric sauna behind this three-bedroom Willamette Valley B&B is as close as a person can get to shvitzing in a wine barrel. Nico and Mia Ponzi Hamacher transformed their mother’s childhood home, situated next to Ponzi Vineyards’ original plantings, into an intimate inn surrounded by grapevines and gardens. While in college in Canada, Nico would sneak out to the barrel sauna hidden in the woods near his campus. In honor of his old hangout, he and a group of family and friends constructed Sosta House’s fir sauna using materials from Sanctuary Barrel Saunas. The cold plunge, built into the cedar deck, stays on theme, made from a converted fermenting tank the siblings found behind the winery. Out the sauna window, guests gaze onto cresting waves of grapevines, a nearby trickling creek, and towering conifers that loom over the property. Chickens coo and cackle from a pen nearby. Like many of the amenities at Sosta House, the sauna is self-serve and free for guests to use at any time during their stay. —Brooke Jackson-Glidden

Gather Sauna House

Central Oregon | Price: Starts at $36 for a 75-minute session | Swimsuit? Yes

Trauma therapist Halina Kowalski-Thompson is a fervent proponent of contrast therapy as a tool for physical and mental healing. It’s what inspired her to open her Central Oregon sauna business with her husband, Dorian Thompson, who built Gather’s first mobile, wood-burning sauna out of a converted horse trailer. Gather parks its saunas alongside natural bodies of water—the Deschutes River, primarily—to host communal and private sauna events, punctuated by icy dips. Halina leads sessions incorporating elements of the Latvian pirts, a thermal bathing tradition that uses medicinal plants in the form of teas and aromatherapy. At Gather, Halina wields herbal whisks she makes herself, brushing them against the skin or using them to fan steam throughout the room. The couple harvests and forages botanicals throughout the region for their own oils, salves, and tinctures, which serve as complements. Coming soon: a full-on sauna center in Tumalo, with an herbal garden for build-your-own whisks. —BJG

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Campfield Long Beach

Long Beach, Washington | Price: Free for overnight guests; day passes start at $35 for a 90-minute session | Swimsuit? Yes, required

In the warmer months of 2024, revered Japanese outdoor brand Snow Peak opened its first American “Campfield”—part ritzy campground, part consumer testing ground for its gear—on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula. Families build fires in Snow Peak–branded stainless-steel fireplaces and roll sleeping bags onto Snow Peak–branded high-tension cots within Snow Peak–branded tents. Beyond the cushy camp gear and scenic wetlands, a main draw of the campground is its ofuro, a Japanese-style bathhouse with an accompanying cold plunge and sauna. The electric sauna is lined with temple-grade hinoki cypress, with a window looking out at the spa’s verdant grounds. The circulating cold plunge—kept between 45 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit—is steps away, as is the 105-degree soaking pool, with a view of surrounding alder trees. Note that Snow Peak Campfield is a family-friendly spot, so don’t be surprised by the chatty 8-year-old joining you on the bench (adults-only slots are available after 7pm each day and before 11am). —BJG

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Breitenbush Hot Springs

Idanha, Oregon | Price: $35 day pass; overnight stays start at $112 | Swimsuit? Optional

Clothing optional, completely off the grid, and free of cell service and Wi-Fi, Breitenbush Hot Springs is the stuff of Oregon legend. The 153-acre resort, nestled into the Willamette National Forest east of Salem, is the Pacific Northwest’s largest privately owned geothermal springs site and has spent the better part of a century as a wilderness health spa; well before it came into private hands, Indigenous tribes gathered here to soak, trade, and feast. A worker-owned cooperative since the late ’70s, Breitenbush today feels part summer camp, part storybook getaway: think communal meals and song circles amid idyllic wooded surrounds. (While the Labor Day fires of 2020 took out historic buildings and left behind burn scars, they couldn’t extinguish the spirit of the place.) The soaking pools, some lined with river rocks and tucked into a meadow with mountain views, steal much of the attention, but consider the sauna a sleeper star. Housed in a sweet cedar hut, it sits atop a capped geyser that would, according to the resort, shoot 30 feet into the air on a regular basis were it not sealed. Hobbit-sized doors grant entry to the dim space, which fills with steam that rises from slats in the floor. When full, it can be a sloppy sea of sweaty bodies, sighing and stretching and sometimes singing. After you’ve maxed out, a sunbathing deck and cold plunge tub await, with icy water piped from a glacier-fed river. —Rebecca Jacobson

Minam River Lodge

Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon | Price: Included with lodge stay; accommodations start at $350 per night, with a minimum three-night stay | Swimsuit? No formal policy, but visitors typically use swimsuits

It doesn’t get much more isolated than this: a hotel deep in Northeastern Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness, accessible only by chartered small-plane flight or an 8.5-mile trail. The cabin-like sauna hides between trees and overlooks the Minam River, whose chilly waters serve as a cold plunge. Lodge staff light the sauna fire at 7am daily, warming cedar benches and paneling. Deeper in the forest, a spring-fed, wood-fired hot tub simmers, lodge staff tending to its flame throughout the day. With only a handful of cabins, lodge rooms, and canvas-wall tents, there are never more than a few dozen guests at the remote hotel; meals draw from the gardens and greenhouse on site. Fishing excursions, horseback rides, or massages in the historic barn disperse visitors, creating a luxurious sense of solitude. The only other trace of civilization is Red’s Horse Ranch and its historic cabins, a half-mile upriver; there, US Forest Service volunteers share stories of how the property once hosted guests as varied as Burt Lancaster and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. —Allison Williams

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Society Hotel Bingen

Bingen, Washington | Price: Free for overnight guests; drop-in visits start at $30 for a one-hour session | Swimsuit? Yes, required|

A sibling of the Society in Old Town, this hostel-hotel hybrid occupies a former school in the Columbia River Gorge, with some of the original features intact (yes, you can play basketball in the gym or gossip on the bleachers). A ring of Scandinavian-vibed cabins surround a shared bathhouse, which follows a similar model to Knot Springs: visitors can work their way through a tepid saltwater soaking pool, a super toasty outdoor soaking pool, a chilly 54 degree cold plunge, and a cedar sauna. Those interested can add a few spa services to their visit, including facials, brow waxes, and exfoliating lip treatments. —BJG

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Von Sauna

Kirkland, Washington | Price: $40 per person for a 75-minute session | Swimsuit? Yes, required

In the mornings, Lake Washington at Kirkland’s Carillon Point is so still the water could be mistaken for glass, the illusion shattered only when sweat-soaked visitors plunge into its depths. The seasonal Von Sauna made its debut in Washington in January 2024, one of the state’s first public floating saunas according to owner David Jones. The DC native decided to bring the floating sauna experience to his adopted home after multiple trips to Norway. Guests choose between a private sauna or a 75-minute communal session, booking one of 12 seats in an allotted time slot. The wood-fired sauna, which sits between 170 and 195 degrees Fahrenheit, juts out over the water on a small dock, with two floor-to-ceiling windows for maximum lake views. —Abby Luschei

 

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