The Best Saunas & Baths in North America

Canada

North America has no single bathing tradition, so its best places come from several. Canada has the Nordic spa, an outdoor circuit of heat, cold plunge and rest that took shape in Quebec. Seven Canadian venues are of this kind, most of them in forest, by a river or lake, and most of them silent by rule. Scandinave, Strøm, La Source, Balnea and Nordik are the names to know.

The western United States

In the western United States the tradition is the hot spring. Orvis in Colorado, Iron Mountain in Glenwood Springs and Quinn's in Montana are groups of mineral pools at different temperatures beside mountains and rivers, places people combine with a road trip.

City bathhouses

The cities have imported their bathhouses. Korean families brought the jjimjilbang, a day-long spa with nude bathing halls and a shared floor of themed saunas; two of the largest are in New Jersey. AIRE runs candlelit thermal baths in old industrial buildings in New York and Chicago. A Turkish hammam operates in North Miami, and Portland has a new thermal springs house on several floors.

Customs

Costs and customs differ from Europe. Entry is often sold as a timed session of two or three hours. Swimwear is worn almost everywhere, with the gender-separated halls of the Korean spas and a few clothing-optional hot springs as the exceptions.