Hot Springs
Rock Tub Hot Spring, which the record also carries under the plain name Hot Springs, is a BLM source roughly ten miles from Mammoth Lakes. The water runs hot, well above what most people can sit in without cooling, and OpenStreetMap tags it as a hot spring bath, which suggests people do use it. Access is Open under the Bishop Field Office.
Barely off the road, under two hundred yards on foot over open BLM ground. The elevation is about seven thousand feet. Winters are snowy, seven feet in an average year, and the balance of the year is dry. Crowley Lake Campground sits a bit under six miles away.
Winter gets the nod on file, December through February. The chemistry dates to a 1973 sample. The USGS measured a very small flow here, a trickle. The temperature is high enough to scald with any length of contact, so check before getting in. The record includes a photograph. No fee is listed.
OpenStreetMap names this spot Rock Tub Hot Spring and tags it as a bathing spring. The USGS lists it as a monitored thermal 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 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
- Open ground
- Flat, open ground all around.
- Highest ground nearby
- 44 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
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 90% 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 Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 7.3). It is notably rich in sodium (supports circulation and skin hydration) and chloride (natural antiseptic with skin health benefits).
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Overview Crowley Lake Campground offers 47 RV/tent sites, maximum recommended RV length is 30 feet. All sites include a fire pit, picnic table and a lantern holder. No hook-up. Potable water is available. Dump station fee is $10.00, no passes accepted. Closest amenities are 2 miles south in Crowley, or 10 miles north in Mammoth Lakes. Recreation Popular activities include lake and stream fishing, boating, windsurfing, horseback riding, hiking, and wildlife viewing. Facilities Crowley Lake...
Hot Springs sits at 6,981 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 Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key.
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