Hot Spring, Fumaroles
This is a field of fumaroles and a hot spring listed at fourteen thousand feet in Siskiyou County, above the town of Mount Shasta, which is eight miles or so away. The water is scalding. OpenStreetMap calls the spot Sulphur Springs. It sits on Shasta National Forest land and is marked open. Nothing here is a soak.
Getting there means a hike of about three miles, and the road you start from goes unnamed in the record. Altitude alone makes it hard work. Average temperature sits below freezing year round. Snowfall is enormous. Red Fir Flat group campground is the closest listed, about five miles away, on National Forest ground.
Steam and water at these temperatures will burn. Stay off the vents. The month ranking favors winter, which at this elevation and snowfall reads like a data quirk; weigh it against the climate figures before planning anything. No fee is recorded for the Forest Service land. Thin air and cold are part of any trip here.
OpenStreetMap names the site Sulphur Springs. The USGS holds a site record 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 Spring, Fumaroles.
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 northeast.
- Highest ground nearby
- 304 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northeast
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 36% 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.
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Overview Red Fir Flat Group Campground is located on the southern slope of Mt. Shasta at 6,400 feet in elevation. Snowpack in this location may extend into late June on heavy snow years, and usually sees late season snowfall in early November, possibly October. It is a popular site for meditation/retreat groups. Maximum stay limit is 7 days per group and or indvidual(s) Recreation Most visitors enjoy the peace and solitude of the forest setting. Several hiking trails are located nearby, incl...
Hot Spring, Fumaroles sits at 14,000 feet, well above 10,000 ft, where the air holds roughly 30% less oxygen than at sea level. Altitude sickness (headache, nausea, dizziness) is a real risk, especially when combined with the dehydrating effects of hot water. UV exposure is approximately 56% stronger than at sea level. Acclimate for at least 24 hours before soaking, drink extra water, and descend if symptoms worsen.
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Hot Spring, Fumaroles is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water is dangerously hot, so bring water shoes and test pools carefully. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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