The Best Saunas & Baths in the United States

Hot springs of the West

Bathing in the United States comes from several directions at once. In the mountain West it starts with hot springs. Orvis Hot Springs in Colorado keeps about ten unchlorinated pools in a garden and is clothing-optional. Iron Mountain Hot Springs in Glenwood Springs lines dozens of small mineral pools along the Colorado River, and Quinn's in Montana sits on the Clark Fork with pools from cold to hot sulphur water.

Korean spas

Around New York the Korean spa has become part of local life. A jjimjilbang has nude bathing halls separated by gender and a shared floor of dry saunas, where everyone wears the loose cotton uniform handed out at the desk. Families spend whole days there, eating and napping between rooms. King Spa in Palisades Park and Island Spa in Edison, both in New Jersey, are large houses of this kind.

City bathhouses

The newer city bathhouses take their form from Europe and the Middle East. AIRE Ancient Baths in New York and Chicago are candlelit rooms of brick and stone with hot, warm and cold pools, entered in timed sessions. Hürrem Hammam in North Miami is built around the Turkish scrub on a heated marble slab. CASCADA in Portland stacks several pools over a number of floors, with a plant-filled hall and a silent basement.