Las Cruces 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.
Las Cruces Hot Springs is the name on file for what Wikipedia calls Gaviota Hot Springs, a pair of pools inside Gaviota State Park in Santa Barbara County, roughly eight miles from Buellton. The water is warm, right about body temperature. State park land, public access Open. A third name, Sulphur Springs, also turns up.
The pools are a short walk off the Gaviota Peak Trail, a quarter mile or less. No elevation is on record. The climate is mild and dry: no snow, thirteen or so inches of rain, averages in the low sixties. The land is California state park ground. The campground on record is Mt. Figueroa, twenty-one miles away.
Best time of year per the record: December through February. The water is comfortable, no heat warning needed. State park rules and hours apply. No fee is listed. The record has neither chemistry nor a photograph.
Wikipedia treats this as Gaviota Hot Springs, with two pools reached from the Gaviota Peak trail, and notes that Las Cruces Hot Springs and Sulphur Springs are alternate names.
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 Las Cruces Hot Springs.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 542 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the south
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's close to the US average of 65. It's higher than at 10% 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 Experience life elevated when you enjoy vistas of wildflowers, star gazing, and summer campouts atop Figueroa Mountain. Lose yourself in a grove of beautiful red manzanita, oaks and pines as Figueroa Campground lifts your spirits and your senses. Take a leisurely walk up the mountain ridge to watch a beautiful sunset or walk the trail around the campground to see the wildlife and all of nature's beauty. During the spring season, the area features an amazing wildflower display. This...
Las Cruces Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear.
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