Fumarole
A fumarole is a steam vent, and this one sits on the Navy's China Lake weapons station in Kern County, about 26 miles from Inyokern. The public is not admitted. The recorded temperature is a few degrees shy of boiling, and a water sample from 1964 came back extremely acidic, with iron and sulfate among the minerals measured.
About a third of a mile out from an unnamed road, on ground listed as military. The directions stop there, since the base is not open. Desert elevation, middling. Snow comes to roughly eleven inches in a year and rain is scarce.
Do not plan a trip. The site is closed and inside an active weapons station. Chimney Creek Campground, about eighteen miles away, is the closest camp listed. The midwinter best months on record describe the area's weather and nothing more. The water is scalding and the chemistry is from 1964.
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 Fumarole.
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
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the east.
- Highest ground nearby
- 241 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the east
A slice through the ground from west to east, 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 60% 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 Fumarole is strongly acidic (pH 1.5) with 2500 mg/L total dissolved solids. It is notably rich in magnesium (known for muscle relaxation and stress relief), sulfate (traditionally used for skin conditions and inflammation), and iron (iron-rich springs may support circulation).
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Chimney Creek Campground is located within Chimney Peak Recreation Area and is cherry stemmed out of Owens Peak Wilderness. The campground contains 36 sites and is nestled among beautiful pinyon pines, grey pines, and oaks along Chimney Creek at 5,700 feet in elevation. Each site in the campground has a picnic table and fire ring. Potable water is available during the summer months near the very end of the campground loop at site 36. During the summer, days can be warm and dry. The Pacific C...
Fumarole is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Springs Near Fumarole
More Springs Around 203°F
Strongly Acidic Springs (pH ~1.5)
Hike 6 waterfalls near Fumarole
Looking for more outdoor adventures? Explore waterfall hikes near Fumarole, California.