CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF WARM SPRINGS -- Nearly six years after it closed, Kah-Nee-Ta Hot Springs Resort reopened to the public Thursday and it's already drawing a lot of attention. Kah-Nee-Ta's website crashed Wednesday, after online reservations went live. "The pent up desire by everybody just to come out and re-experience it is just tremendous," says CEO Jim Souers, "So we know it's going to be very high-demand coming into this weekend and through the rest of the summer."

Restoring the resort came with a $13.1 million dollar price tag. But Souers says it also created 85 jobs for tribal members, and is expected to be an economic boon to Warm Springs. It's also a cultural benefit to the Confederated Tribes, "To allow their culture to be felt, seen and experienced. It's a native hot springs. It's been around for centuries."

Souers tells KBND News, "This was one of the first resort destinations in all of Central Oregon." It operated for about 40 years before it closed in 2018. At the time, the Tribal Council said it was financially unsustainable. Souers says after Indian Head Casino moved to its current location on Highway 26, the 150-room lodge and conference space added to Kah-Nee-Ta in the 1970s became a financial drain on the rest of the resort. Now, the hotel has just 30 rooms, 20 new teepees and an RV Park, all in the footprint of the original Kah-Nee-Ta Village, "This Village, itself, has been and will continue to be profitable," says Souers, "So that's where we started. How we expand from here, we'll see."

Kah-Nee-Ta has 30 pools, "We now, I believe, have the largest resort-class hot springs soaking experience in all of the Northwest, if not the greater region. A third of the large pool areas are hot springs water." They have to vary the temperature because the water comes out of the ground at 130-degrees, "The hot springs are known for adding a wellness component to humanity, not just ours but just in general. So how do we bring this hot springs water to everybody in a large format?" 

There's also a lazy river, a full restaurant and bar, and other family-oriented outdoor activities. "We just didn't bring it back to, if you will, spruce up what was there. We really thought about what do we need for the next 20 to 30 years to bring it back. We refer to it as reimagining." 

Reservations can be made year-round for day-use or overnight stays.