Passersby do double takes at this barrel-shaped sauna parked at Golden Gardens or Alki beaches, like a giant Twix bar with two little chimneys poking out one end. For all the indoor heat Nate Garberich offers with his traveling setup, it was inspired by the very frigid; the idea largely grew out of cold plunge group Coldwater Collective. The Minnesota-built structure holds 16 people who alternate between extreme temps. Admission is available via a one-time $35–40 pass or a monthly membership.

The shape is conducive to even a full house, social but never a sardine-can situation. The twin wood fires make one end especially scorching for sauna experts, but the door side is usually milder. Sure, users get stares when they climb out in a bathing suit and run to the lapping Puget Sound waves, but on one cold plunge at Golden Gardens we got to share our swim with a giant, curious sea lion.

Inspired by the floating saunas of Oslo, Norway, David Jones designed his own barge setup and had it constructed in Louisiana (the barge part) and Michigan (the wood room). Once delivered to Seattle, he moved them across Lake Washington by towing them with a jetski, finally tying up at Carillon Point Marina in Kirkland.

Open since January 2024 (but closed June–September), Von has grown to two saunas with 18 bookable seats ($32–40 each) between them, the big glass windows looking out at the sailboats and yachts anchored across the water. The cold plunge roulette includes a ladder down to the lake, a bucket on a string for self-dousing, and a small beach in front of the nearby Woodmark Hotel for gentle wading. The space can't compete with the Pacific Northwest's most stunning floating sauna, in Tofino, but the on-water location adds a pleasant bobbing sensation to a sweat session.

The Paradise Village hot tub is so bizarre and frankly so cool that we had to do a deeper dive; read about it later this week. But the short version is that Ukrainian hotelier Anatoliy Zaika wanted to recreate the soaking experiences of his native Carpathian Mountains, so he had a giant cauldron shipped from Ukraine and installed in his small resort near Mount Rainier. The wood fire below provides the heat and the cannibal connotations, and the family's bakery has post-soak treats. It's a worthy day trip to the foothills of Rainier, worth the $140 rental fee in novelty alone.

Best known for lightweight, Japanese-style camping gear—there's a physical shop in Portland—Snow Peak pivoted last year to open a campground in Long Beach, about a mile inland from the waves, offering tents and even small wood cabins as accommodations, with a wash house and indoor gathering space to upgrade the camping experience.

But the property highlight is the Ofuro spa, a semi-outdoor space with three walls and a roof but one open-air side. A sizable warm soaking pool provides escape from blustery Washington beach weather, and a large sauna includes a window out onto the trees. Kids over 6 are allowed, and the airy space keeps it chill even when people are talking. Day passes ($35) are reservable up to three days in advance and the last session of the day is adults only.

With a loving renovation of the state's oldest hotel (that made our best hotels in Washington list) and a funky Southern-inspired restaurant (that made our best restaurants in Washington list), Tokeland Hotel is already bringing a lot to a tiny tidal community in the southwest corner of the state. But owner Heather Earnhardt did not rest on her laurels, adding a guests-only wood-fired hot tub on a raised platform in the brushy fields around the historic structure. A cold plunge joined soon after, and this year another hot tub will go up nearby, as well as wood-fired saunas throughout the property. There is truly no reason to leave.

So new that it's not even open yet—but the outdoor hydrotherapy spot found the perfect location in the outdoorsy Bavarian town, wedged between the KOA campground and the new climbing gym under construction. Marco Scheuer and Vincent LaBelle built a small network of pools and sauna, turning the plot of land into a hangout ideal for post-ski, post-climbing, or just post-bratwurst recovery.

Scheuer already envisions a second sauna and more pools in phase two; snow will fill the spaces between the walkways and firepit in winter, though the pair is considering a snow maker for when Mother Nature doesn't do her duty. Currently slated to open in early February, the space is evidence that Leavenworth can no longer be considered pure kitsch. Between these new pools and the elegant spa at Posthotel, this is a soaking town too.