Dale Clark, an Airbnb owner in Thermopolis, had just one word when he heard Wyoming State Parks had reached a tentative $1.8 million agreement to buy the Star Plunge water park in Hot Springs State Park, ending a long-running legal dispute that’s kept the popular attraction closed more than a year.
“Ecstatic,” he said.
Clark has seen the lowest occupancy numbers ever for his Airbnb this year with the Star Plunge closed and said August bookings so far look to be a record low.
“This month I think we have eight days in August reserved, where usually we’re close to sold out,” he said.
Two guests told him this month that if they’d known Star Plunge wasn’t open, his already low bookings would have been short another two.
“Whether you like it or not — and there’s many who don’t — Star Plunge is the No. 1 attraction,” he said. “I get that there’s the Dinosaur Center, there’s another pool, and there’s the State Bath House, and there’s this and that.
"But Star Plunge is No. 1, like it or not.”
For Clark and many other Thermopolis business owners, the state’s deal with Star Plunge owner Roland Luehne is long-awaited relief from a legal fight they say has been taking the top off their tourism season.
The $1.8 million settlement agreement, which will require the Wyoming attorney general’s approval, will close out all claims — filed or unfiled, current or future — related to the Star Plunge dispute, according to Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails Deputy Director Nick Neylon.
“It will pay C&W Enterprises $1.8 million and will stipulate that Roland and his company drop all claims against the state regarding the Star Plunge,” he said. “The settlement isn’t final yet, but Director (Dave) Glenn has signed it, and Roland and Star Plunge have signed it.”
The attorney general’s review was a stipulation in the legislation establishing a $3 million fund to buy out both Star Plunge and the Hot Springs Hotel.
Ends All Claims
The dispute between State Parks and Star Plunge began almost two decades ago when the long-term concession contract for the attraction expired in 2008.
That morphed into years of short-term deals, as well as political fights at the Capitol and, ultimately, closure of the popular attraction in January 2025, along with sparking a lawsuit between the parties over just compensation.
The agreement clears the way for new concessionaire Wyoming Hot Springs, LLC to take over the attraction, along with neighboring TePee Pools and the State Bath House, ushering in millions of dollars worth of improvements.
A separate agreement covering purchase of the Hot Springs Hotel is pending and nearing completion, Neylon added.
“We have spent a week negotiating with them, and we hope to have an announcement about that very soon,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “It won’t happen today, but hopefully soon.”
Won’t Reopen Overnight
Star Plunge won’t reopen right away, Neylon said. The first step once the state regains control of the property will be a “top-to-bottom” safety inspection.
“We have said many times there were some safety issues we were worried about at the Star Plunge,” he said. “Once the agreement is fully executed and the keys turned over to us, we’ll get in there and conduct that safety inspection … and then we still have to finalize the contract with the new concessionaire.”
Neylon said the state has been working concurrently on the final shape of its contract with Wyoming Hot Springs LLC, the concessionaire owned by former Alaska U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, which will take over all the park’s attractions.
Luehne filed a lawsuit prior to the Star Plunge closure in January 2025, alleging the state’s process had been fundamentally unfair and violated formal regulations for choosing a new concessionaire.
He also claimed the state was cheating him of just compensation for decades of capital improvements.
In the months since the lawsuit, various efforts were made to try and open the attraction, including a deal that would have seen a third party operate the park for Luehne. That fell apart amid strong personalities who left very little wiggle room for negotiation.
Ends Two Decades Of Dispute
The new settlement caps a nearly two-decade standoff between Wyoming and C&W Enterprises over improvements to the concession.
“It’s been 18 years since their last long-term lease expired in 2008,” Neylon said. “So, it’s been a long journey to get to this point.
"We’ve been working with them at least that long to try to finalize a new contract and get some improvements across all concessions.”
The lawsuit has put the status of other park improvements in limbo, with Wyoming Hot Springs LLC officials saying they cannot decide what direction to take until they know the outcome of the lawsuit between the state and Luehne, whose family has operated Star Plunge since 1975.
Hot Springs is already Wyoming’s most-visited state park, according to the state’s traffic statistics, and represents a huge opportunity to create new tourism in the state, parks officials have said in previous interviews.
In 2016, to try to capture more of that potential, Wyoming updated its master plan for the park, laying out a new vision and sending out a request for proposals.
The state chose Wyoming Hot Springs LLC as the new concessionaire in 2024, effectively evicting Luehne and his family.
Efforts To Push Other Attractions
Messaging around the closure has tried to refocus attention on other attractions in Hot Springs County, such as the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, the TePee Pools, the State Bath House, and Hot Springs State Park itself, with its buffalo pasture and hiking and biking trails.
To some extent, state lodging statistics do show the effort helped, especially with respect to the area’s blue-ribbon fishing opportunities and its whitewater rafting, but Airbnb stats also show that the area’s spill-over lodging took a big hit.
Thermopolis Mayor Adam Estenson said the town’s overall tourism has remained “surprisingly” resilient and blamed confusion over the Star Plunge closure, with some mistakenly thinking it meant a broader closure of the park itself.
“It’s good news indeed for Thermop and Hot Springs County,” he said. “And I would say probably the whole Bighorn Basin.
"By and large, you talk to most people in our community, and this is what they really want, just a resolution to where we can start to move forward.”
Estenson indicated efforts would continue to diversify away from too much reliance on any one attraction.
“We’ve got a group here called the Hot City Outdoor Alliance, and they’re doing some awesome work with the trails,” he said. “In the last five or six years, they have expanded a trail system where you could literally hike all day long, never hitting the same trail twice, and never really leave the town of Thermopolis.”
Those hikes feel secluded, with amazing vistas, Estenson added.
“That group also has something to do with the Wagonhound, an off-road park up toward like Anchor Dam and Legend Rock,” he said. “And so that’s just highlights of a lot of stuff going on in Hot Springs County.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
