Clifton Hot Springs
Clifton Hot Springs is a hot spring in Greenlee County, Arizona, a couple of miles outside Clifton, where the water measures 102, right in the soaking range. The water itself is the oddity: a decades-old sample put dissolved solids near 14,000 milligrams per liter, with iron on the mineral list. Neither access nor ownership is recorded. A photograph is on file.
the road distance on record says four feet, which means the road runs past the spring. Mid-elevation country, mild through the year, dry, with hardly any snow. Owl Creek Campground is about six miles away, the closest listed. No owner or unit shows in the file.
Winter is the recommended window. The temperature is good for a soak, but nobody has recorded an owner or an access status, so ask in Clifton first. The mineral load is very high and the sample is decades old. No fee is on record. Owl Creek Campground, a few miles out, is the listed place to camp.
Aircraft with laser scanners measured this ground to within inches. The scan strips out trees and buildings, leaving the bare shape of the land around Clifton Hot Springs.
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 436 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northeast
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's about 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 46% of the springs on this site.
Heat flow measures the warmth working its way up through the ground from deep inside the earth. Where it runs high, rain and snowmelt that seep down through cracks in the rock come back up hot.
See every spring on the geothermal heat map →
Heat flow estimate: Stanford Thermal Earth Model (Aljubran & Horne, 2024), CC BY 4.0.
The water at Clifton Hot Springs contains 13900 mg/L total dissolved solids. It is notably rich in calcium (may support bone density and joint health), sodium (supports circulation and skin hydration), and chloride (natural antiseptic with skin health benefits).
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Located in the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area in Arizona, Owl Creek Campground has seven campsites, picnic tables, grills, ramadas, trash receptacles, and restroom facilities available to make your stay more enjoyable. There is no potable water available at the campground. Three of the campsites are pull-through sites, and four are pull-in sites, making the campground suitable for trailers and RVS. The campground is a stop on the Black Hills Back Country Byway, and it is also j...
Clifton Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. Bring sun protection for exposed soaking.
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