Hot Spring
A hot spring without a proper name, two and a bit miles from Kernville in Kern County. The water is hot, near the top of what most bathers tolerate. Who owns the land is not on file, and no access status exists, so nobody can say from the record if you can legally walk up to it.
A short walk from an unnamed road, three hundred-odd feet. The elevation is low foothill country and the climate is mild, averaging in the low sixties with two feet of snow most winters and little rain. Camp 9, a little over two miles away, is where the record says you can camp, roughly the same distance as the town.
Winter months rate best on record. Access is a short walk, but with no landowner listed you should confirm you are not crossing private ground. Water at this temperature will burn with prolonged contact, so test before you settle in. Somebody photographed it; the picture is in the record. Chemistry and fee are blank on file, and the USGS never registered a site.
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.
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 south.
- Highest ground nearby
- 278 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the south
A slice through the ground from northwest to southeast, 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 22% 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 Camp 9, a year-round facility, rests on the shores of Lake Isabella, a high desert reservoir. Its proximity to the lake and the Upper Kern River makes the facility popular among boaters, rafters and anglers. The camp is also a favorite among RV campers, with ample parking available to accommodate both trailers and motorized watercraft.Recreation Anglers enjoy fishing on both Lake Isabella and the Upper Kern River. Boating, kayaking and swimming are also popular activities. A seasonal...
Hot Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key.
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