Hot Spring
Despite the name, this Hot Spring off Owens River Road comes out barely warm, under seventy degrees on the sample in the record. It sits on Bureau of Land Management ground in the Bishop Field Office, about eleven miles from Mammoth Lakes, with access listed as Open. What stands out is the mineral load: the water carries a heavy dose of dissolved solids.
Owens River Road is the nearest road, roughly a thousand feet away, so figure on a short walk across BLM land. The elevation is around seven thousand feet, high desert on the east side, with winters that pile up six or seven feet of snow. Beyond that the year is dry. Convict Lake Campground, about eight miles out, is the camping listed.
Midwinter rates best on file. The temperature and chemistry come from a 1993 sample, so the water may have changed since. Nothing here is warm enough to call a soak. Access is open under BLM management and no fee is recorded. The USGS lists the site.
The USGS carries this spring as a numbered site and sampled it in the summer of 1993, finding calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfate, chloride and iron in the water.
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 west.
- Highest ground nearby
- 85 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the west
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 twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 76% 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 Spring is slightly alkaline (pH 7.8) with 1230 mg/L total dissolved solids. It is notably rich in sodium (supports circulation and skin hydration), chloride (natural antiseptic with skin health benefits), and total dissolved solids (higher mineral concentration for therapeutic soaking).
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Overview Convict Lake Campground is situated near Convict Lake amidst the beautiful scenery of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The lake and surrounding national forest provide many opportunities for family fun, outdoor recreation and relaxation. The campground and nearby resort offer many amenities for a convenient and enjoyable camping experience. The facility is located between Mammoth Lakes and Bishop, California, near Mammoth Airport.Recreation The eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains are known...
Hot Spring sits at 7,035 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 Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear.
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