STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Hailey Hot Springs Ranch is in the bag, thanks to donations from more than 900 families, businesses, foundations and nonprofits.

Those individuals and organizations helped raise $16 million this past year to purchase the 2,700-acre property just west of Mountain Humane in Croy Canyon so it can be protected forever as part of the Wood River Land Trust’s network of public access preserves.

“Over the course of the campaign I was overwhelmed by how much people love that place and wanted to see it protected,” said Amy Trujillo, executive director of the Wood River Land Trust. “One gentleman and his wife made a very generous donation and said that, with everything going on in the world, they felt this was something they could do, that they could see and touch and know they were doing something positive for the world.”

The property was one of the Wood River Valley’s most significant remaining private properties, and its acquisition may be the most important headline of 2025 in the Wood River Valley.

It was the site of the famed Hailey Hot Springs Hotel in the late 1800s, people coming from around the country to bask in its curative mineral waters, dance the night away in the ballroom, play billiards, fish and swim.

Its acquisition in the year 2026 adds to the Hailey Greenway, making it a 3,000-acre, six mile stretch of connected open space that connects the Colorado Gulch Preserve in the south, the Draper Wood River Preserve and Simons/Bauer Preserve in the middle and, now, the new Hailey Hot Springs Ranch Preserve in the north.

Its creek, riparian forest, wetlands, sagebrush steppe and high desert alpine ecosystem offer important wildlife habitat for sage grouse, sandhill crane, elk, mule deer, moose and pronghorn.

It encompasses the popular Lambs Gulch mountain biking and hiking trail, which was closed to the public by a previous landowner for several years. And it offers birdwatching, wildflower bonanzas, fishing and snowshoeing.

The Wood River Land Trust has wanted to protect the ranch since the conservation organization’s founding more than 30 years ago.

“When the ‘For Sale’ sign went up at the property, people were coming to us hoping that we could do something,” said Trujillo. “We knew it was going to take more than one organization to make this happen. Again and again, over the course of the year, we have been amazed at the way people have come together--it’s a testament to how much people love this place and what we can do together.”

Among those helping to push the acquisition over the finish line were Alturas Elementary second-grade twins Sawyer and Jasper Riccardi. They set up a lemonade stand to raise money for the project, recruiting some of their friends in the effort as they later hosted a second lemonade stand.

Their initial effort raised more than $300, and those who read about their effort sent in more than a thousand dollars of donations in their honor.

“We told about their effort in an email, and that inspired more than $200,000 in donations from people who loved seeing the kids,” said Trujillo. “It made me have a lot of hope for the next generation—they’re on it.”

The Wood River Land Trust will focus on maintaining existing access to Democrat Gulch Road and the trails already leading off it, rather than building new trails, in order to preserve the property’s significance as a wildlife habitat.

Agricultural fields across Croy Creek Road that are leased to a local farmer will remain closed to the public.

The residential facilities will remain closed to the public for now. But the Land Trust is working out details that might offer lodging for University of Idaho scientists doing conservation research on the nearby Rinker Rock Creek Ranch.

Land Trust staff also will examine the option of using part of the facilities for afterschool environmental classes and other groups.

The Land Trust will work with Blaine County Recreation District on a plan to provide safe, accessible hot spring access for the public away from sensitive wildlife habitat. The hot springs sits alongside a creek where moose and other wildlife hang out in the willows.

“We’re exploring the possibility of piping the water away from the sensitive area and closer to the road so people aren’t trampling the willows,” said Trujillo.

Trujillo said the Land Trust will probably engage the community this spring to get the public’s thoughts on parking and other issues concerning the hot springs.

The Land Trust closed on the deal on the eve of New Year’s Eve.

“It was incredible to think about everything that’s come together over the course of the last year,” said Trujillo

“This acquisition marks a milestone in the Land Trust’s legacy of community-led conservation, bringing the total protected lands to 30,000 acres in 30 years,” said Wood River Land Trust Board Chair Karen de Saint Phalle. “Each place protected tells a story of our community’s impact – conserving critical wildlife habitat, preserving working lands, and ensuring public access to the places we all cherish.”

State and local partners who helped secure the money necessary to purchase the land include:

● The Nature Conservancy

* Blaine County Recreation District

● Heart of the Rockies Initiative

● Atira Conservation

● 100 Men Who Care

● Women River Women's Foundation

● Hailey Rotary Club

● Spur Community Foundation

● Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation

● The Rixon-Cronin Charitable Fund

● Power Engineers

● The Kid Stand

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE WOOD RIVER LAND TRUST?

In addition to drawing up plans for the Hailey Hot Springs property, the Wood River Land Trust plans to finish its work on the 65-acre Warm Springs Preserve, aka “the dog park” in Ketchum, this coming spring.

Once the snow melts, they’ll plant native riparian and riverside plants along the creek, along with native shrubs, trees grasses and wildflowers in a sort-of pollinator meadow.

The Welcome Building will also be finished at that time.