Hot Creek Gorge Springs
Hot Creek Gorge Springs are the thermal vents along Hot Creek in the Inyo National Forest, about nine miles from Mammoth Lakes in Mono County. OpenStreetMap labels the place Hot Creek Geological Site. The water comes out near boiling. Access is open, on Forest Service land, a short walk from Hot Creek Hatchery Road.
Hot Creek Hatchery Road stops a few hundred yards shy of the springs, and the walk in is short. This is high country at seven thousand feet, with about seven feet of snow most winters and a cold yearly average. Sherwin Creek campground is about six and a half miles away.
The water is scalding. Keep out of it; the reading on file is within a few degrees of boiling. A 1980 sample showed alkaline water with high dissolved solids and chloride. Best months listed are midwinter, when snow is heavy here. Nothing on file about a fee. The USGS keeps a site number for it.
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 Hot Creek Gorge 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
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the west.
- Highest ground nearby
- 86 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the west
A slice through the ground from south to north, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
Landsat's thermal camera passed over on a clear winter day, January 5, 2022. This spring's heat shows up from about 440 miles up. The brightest yellow marks the warmest ground, roughly 8°F warmer than the land around it.
Drag to compare. The view is about 2½ miles across, and each thermal pixel covers roughly 300 feet of ground, so individual pools blur into one warm patch.
Thermal: Landsat 8/9 surface temperature, USGS (public domain), via Microsoft Planetary Computer. Aerial: USGS The National Map. More springs seen from space.
That's about twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 82% 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 Hot Creek Gorge Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 8.0) with 1170 mg/L total dissolved solids. It is notably rich in chloride (natural antiseptic with skin health benefits) and total dissolved solids (higher mineral concentration for therapeutic soaking).
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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...
Hot Creek Gorge Springs sits at 7,008 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 28% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Hot Creek Gorge Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully.
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