Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs opens on Christmas Day in Saco

The Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs opening was not spoiled by the fact it opened it's doors on Christmas, rather the renovated spa and fitness venue was packed out.

"It's like they say, 'If you build it, they will come' and that was proven yesterday," Dennis Simpson told the PCN the day after the opening.

The Sleeping Buffalo 17 miles west of Saco, features a natural hot spring pool that is 106 degrees, a swim area that is 90 degrees and a cold pool that is 48 degrees.

There is also a fitness area and a very large sauna, which may come in handy after ice-fishing at the Nelson Reservoir.

"The response is amazing, people really seem to like it and that's what we've been shooting for, just to give something back to the community that they were proud of before," Simpson said.

The finish of the indoor hot springs was phase one of the Sleeping Buffalo's renovations.

Phase two will include reconstruction to the outdoor springs and a campground area.

"In the spring we will venture into the outside pools and kind of pull it together as a resort," Simpson said.

The renovation of the Sleeping Buffalo isn't Simpson's first rodeo with hot springs.

He and wife Michelle, (daughter of Vic and Mary Lefdahl) owned and operated the hot springs in Bozeman for 20 years and are working on a hot spring with a company in their hometown in Arizona.

"I've kind of found a niche with hot springs. Figuring out how to make them work and take them from something that's really bad and bring them back to life," Simpson said. "It's kind of fun really."

After purchasing the site and looking into it's needed repairs, Simpson figured the project would be tougher than the couple initially thought.

"Once she introduced me to the place, we just started making a plan on how to re-do it," Simpson said. "When we tore into it, it was a challenge because this place was a lot farther gone than I had really anticipated."

He went on to say nothing worked at the site, including the drainage system.

"We had to put a new roof on the building. It was pretty much just done," he said.

Simpson and his crew of a few workers jack-hammered out the original concrete in the area and built around what they could save, which was basically the rock walls and wood.

"We opened it up to get more light in here," he said. "This place was always so dark and dingy."

The hot springs now have new life and are far from the dated look featured in the past several years.

The inlay of the pool features tile, which should be a lot easier on the feet of swimmers and soakers.

The pools are now drained nightly as opposed to once a year, as it was in the past.

If that isn't hygienic enough, consider the fact that the hot tub and pool drain constantly.

The Hot tub itself drains and refills at 200 gallons per minute.

"If it wasn't for Ryan (brother of Michelle) and the Lefdahl family, we wouldn't have got it done. We worked around the clock with just a few people, that's been the tough part," Simpson said.

The project started on April 1, and originally the goal was to open sooner, but the shortage of man-power hindered that.

"In Bozeman I had huge crews, where I can pull a lot more help together, but Ryan is here to look at the maintenance, Mary's here to look after the day to day operation, so it'll be good," Simpson said. "Thanks to the Lefdahl family for all of their hard work, I couldn't have done it without them."

He also credited sons Christian and Cameron for their hard work.

For more information, call 1-406-527-3320.

Check them out on Facebook: Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs.