Fish Creek Hot Springs
Fish Creek Hot Springs, known on OpenStreetMap as Iva Bell Hot Springs, is a backcountry hot spring in Sierra National Forest. Getting there means a hike, roughly four and a half miles off the closest road. The water is right at the line between a hot soak and too hot. Access is open. Mammoth Lakes is the nearest town, seven miles or so.
High Sierra, well over seven thousand feet, national forest land. Sixteen feet of snow is the yearly average. Sherwin Creek campground, eight miles or so away, is what our records show for camping, though the spring itself is a backcountry walk from the closest road and nothing closer is listed.
Winter shows up as the best season in our data, which sits awkwardly against that much snow. Judge the season by the snowfall. This is a hike, several miles one way. Open Forest Service land, no fee recorded. The water sits right at 110, so check it before you settle in. Chemistry comes from a 1993 sample.
OpenStreetMap lists the same spot under the name Iva Bell Hot Springs. The USGS has sampled it, most recently in our records in 1993.
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 Fish Creek 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
- 717 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southwest
A slice through the ground from north to south, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's about 2½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 93% 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 Fish Creek Hot Springs is slightly acidic (pH 6.7) with 378 mg/L total dissolved solids.
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Overview Sherwin Creek Campground is located in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains within 2 miles of the full-service community of Mammoth Lakes, California. Popular among anglers, hikers, off-road vehicle enthusiasts and photographers, the campground is near some of the most spectacular wilderness and outdoor recreation areas in the Sierras.Recreation With a motocross track and trails, Sherwin Creek is a hot spot for off-road vehicle enthusiasts. The area's majestic scenery and challenging...
Fish Creek Hot Springs sits at 7,240 feet above sea level, way above the mile-high mark. You may not feel the altitude strongly, but hot water still dehydrates you faster at elevation. UV is about 29% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Fish Creek Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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Springs Near Fish Creek Hot Springs
More Springs Around 110°F
Slightly Acidic Springs (pH ~6.7)
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