Naturally occuring hot springs are such a cool thing to see! They are even better when they are warm enough to get in, and they are AMAZING when you get them all for yourself!
Most of the time, they reside in isolated areas where only dirt roads will get you there. You also don’t find many tubs available (sometimes only one is there) and sometimes other visitors commonly soak in the nude!
Being fortunate enough to visit hot springs near Mammoth Lakes, California (and although I did not get in every single time), I realized that there are a couple tricks to having a good experience there.
I have included my top 5 tips for visiting these luxurious natural places:
- Get there before 8am or get there before dinnertime. Sitting in my campsite near the hot springs, I could see very far due to my elevated location. I noticed that after 8 am I saw AT LEAST NINE cars driving to just one hot springs, and this was on a Thursday morning. The day before, I arrived at around 3pm at that same hot spring and no one was there except for one other car.
- A high clearance vehicle will assure you have a safe arrival. 4×4 and 4WD recommended due to potentially precarious road conditions. The roads aren’t terrible and I’ve seen some 2 wheel drive vehicles but for some of the hot springs, there are some wonky areas. Because they are dirt roads, if it rains it may become too muddy. Be prepared.
- Be flexible and do your research on locating the hot springs. Dirt roads make it difficult to navigate at times, and there may not be much signal available for GPS. Therefore, preparing directions in advance will benefit you very much! In addition, most of these places only have one tub so sharing is very common and expected. Moreover, you may be arriving on a semi-full tub, and will either need to find another, share, or patiently wait. Some people stay in the pools for HOURS. Also, some pools are fed by pipes with the hot water, and may be too cool to swim in because visitors turned the hot water pipe off.
- A weekday is always smart. I arrived on a Wednesday, and it was relatively empty! By Thursday morning, it was packed. Weekends are full of visitors and if you are visiting hot springs that are near a local city, except more visitors during these times because they are visiting those places as well.
- And finally, if weather conditions are less than reasonable, you may have better chances at an isolated pool. I would not recommend going during the hottest times of the summer, but the colder months may give you a better chance.
Applying all tips myself, this is was resulted:
I arrived to these Mammoth Hotsprings with smoky skies, and possible snow in the forecast. My arrival time started around 3pm, and I explored for maybe an hour or so running into only one car! I was just scoping out the locations of each hot spring for my own personal knowledge in my lifted Subaru Outback. The first hot spring was lukewarm but abandoned. The second hot spring was extremely cold (pipe was turned off) and entirely abandoned. This particular road had rough patches and significant dips. And finally, the third hot spring was empty, with perfect temperature, and nobody around. If I had intended to soak, it would have been perfect :).
All in all, the flexibility and exploration made it worth it.
Please let me know if you ever visit these lovely spots! And as always, your support means everything! Please like, comment, save and share to your friends and family if this was at all useful and informative! Thank you!