Polliewog, You can veiw pictures of these springs in the link at the bottom of the forum page. I have many at that site listed under Wizard. Page 1 through 3 show the area in snow and 4 through 7 show other assorted pictures of Deep Creek Hot Springs. There is presently quite a bit of mud in the creek which came from the soot left over from a large fire in August of 1999. The general area around the springs did not get burnt from the fire. The fire did burn down one hill on the east side of the springs but many plants are growing back since then. One of the main pools is under the water of the creek as of last weekend and is filled with cold water. The remaining pools are above the creek and have none of this mud in them. Many people bring dogs to the springs and it sounds like you keep an eye on yours and thats always appreciated by the other visitors. The amount of people in the pools varies, time of day, day of the week, weather etc. but I basically always find room to get in the pools. For a quieter time its best to go Monday through Thursday and mornings get less traffic . I think you will find your time well spent in visiting these beautiful springs!