Diving through history
Twenty minutes out of Park City under a small hill rests one of Utah’s few open water scuba dive spots quietly bubbling to itself.
The hot spring at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah, sits 55 feet in the crater that was formed by the mineral rich waters of the spring. The spot attracts divers from around the United States.
“I don’t need hairspray anymore,” said Dan Howlett, part-time diving instructor. “It [the lake] has enough minerals in it.”
One of the most unique features setting the dive spot apart from its competitors in and out of Utah is 94-degree waters. The waters originate two miles underground.
In 1886 Simmon Snietter, a Swiss immigrant, drilled into the side of the hot spring to use the water in hot tubs. That caused the water level to drop 55 feet from the mouth of the spring to its current level.
The spring is now 65 feet deep. The water enters the spring through small fissures created by a prehistoric earthquake.
The spring has until recently been used by the Homestead Resort to fill their pools.
“It’s really hard to maintain,” said Laura Davis, pool manager for the resort.
The spring attracts divers from across the United States, like Utah State University Alumni Steve Walker and his friends, Tim Hutching and Nathan Coe.
“We had a group of 80 divers up from Colorado last weekend,” Howlett said.
Howlett and his wife, Kathy, manage the diving in the spring for part of the week and teach diving classes the other part.
With its warm temperatures the spring gives divers a place to go during the winter.
Walker said, “It’s like a bath tub.”
Walker and his friends spent a half hour exploring the depths of the crater Tuesday.