Bihor County has a long tradition in the therapeutic use of thermal waters. Except for the established spa resorts Felix, 1 Mai and Tinca, the study focuses on capitalizing on the spa potential in the country side. The objective of this study is to highlight the evolution and the therapeutic and recreational valorization of the spa factor in rural localities, not included in the state balneo-tourism management plan before 1989, nor in the network of the relevant ministry from the years after this date. The paper inventories the sources of geothermal water at the scale of Bihor county that were the object of individual or collective local valorization, at the level of villages or communes. The geological prospecting works and the special drillings carried out in the period 1960-1970 with the aim of identifying oil or natural gas deposits, sometimes highlighted important geothermal resources, many of them, being interpreted and exploited ad hoc by the rural population for the purpose spa. The paper analyzes how the phenomenon of therapeutic valorization of thermal waters in Bihoren villages developed and evolved, as well as the impact on the social-economic environment. It also assesses the rural development forecasts presented in the strategic development projects at the level of some communes, regarding the exploitation of geothermal waters.