Join me in adding this to your summer 2025 bucket list item: visit all four of Boise’s outdoor public pools.
Which Pools Are Open, and When?
The Natatorium
An East End favorite, the Natatorium is a must-visit for all Boiseans in my opinion. Like all four pools, it’ll be closed this Thursday for Juneteenth and again on July 4.
- Bonus: Take a trip down the memory slide with this history of the Natatorium.
The Natatorium’s Hydrotube costs an extra $8 and $11 for 10 rides and an all day pass respectively. A season pass makes the Hydrotube a little cheaper.
Ivywild Pool
For slides, look no further than Southeast Boise’s Ivywild Pool, located off Leadville Avenue just east of Broadway Avenue.
Borah Pool
Borah Pool is your classic city pool (I’m reminded of “Sandlot” vibes), with a few swimming lanes, diving boards, and small slides.
Fairmont Pool
West Boise has an indoor pool in the Boise City Aquatics Center, but its outdoor public pool is the Fairmont Pool on the West Bench, near the intersection of Northview and Milwaukee Streets. Located far from the river and right next to a junior high school and the Morley Nelson Community Center, it stays busy in the summer months.
Admission Costs and Hours
At each of the pools, minors can get in for $4, adults for $6, and seniors are free. For frequent visitors, season swim passes are $32 for youth and 450 for adults. A season swim pass pays for itself in eight visits for kids, and in nine visits for adults.
With rare exceptions for events, the pools are all open Monday through Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m. and 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Try a new pool this summer! (Google Maps)
Pool Closures and Coming Updates
With the closures of South Pool and Lowell Pool in 2020, Boise’s public outdoor pools fell from six to just four. At least now it’s easier to visit all of them!
And within a couple of seasons, that number will be back up to six. In 2026, construction should be complete on a new Whitney Pool on the Boise Bench. Earlier this year, the public voted on design themes for a children’s area of the pool and selected “Under the Sea;" check out the dolphins here.
Last year, the Boise City Council narrowly voted to restore the Lowell Pool on 28th Street in the North End, just off State Street. The restoration will likely cost over $9 million, and could be complete next year.
The South Pool, on the other hand, has had its last splash. The Whitney Pool is being constructed as a replacement for South, while new ideas for how to use the South Pool infrastructure are being hatched.
