To prevent additional damage to the meadow at the Hilltop Hot Springs off the Benton Crossing Road, the Bureau of Land Management plans to change the access to that popular recreation site.

Diana Pietrasanta with the BLM reports that with areas of standing water, last winter the meadow surrounding the Hilltop Hot Spring was badly damaged by vehicles driving to the parking area just below the tub. She explained that the plan is to use gravel fill to build up the road to keep it dry and to improve the trail to the hot tub as well.

The idea is help the deeply rutted and soft alkali meadow recover in some spots. Two side roads that drive within a hundred feet or so of the tubs will be closed off. The parking will now be a hundred yards or so from the hot springs, on more solid ground in the sage.

Pietrasanta explained that much of the damage to the meadow area from last winter occurred when people drove out of the tub area and got stuck.

The changes to the road to the Hilltop Hot Springs are expected to start this fall, with the trail work to be done in the spring.