Montecito Hot Springs
Montecito Hot Springs lies in the Los Padres National Forest above the town of Montecito, under two miles from the nearest streets. The water is hot at the source, too hot for comfort until it has cooled. Public access is open and the Forest Service holds the land. Nothing on file mentions a fee.
A short walk, a few hundred yards, from a road that is not named on the record. The spring sits in the front range of the coastal mountains at about sixteen hundred feet. Winters are mild and almost snow-free, with a modest amount of rain, and the summer is dry. The designation is national forest, which keeps it public. No wilderness status is listed.
December to February is the window on file. The source is hot, above 110 degrees, so feel the water first and find a spot that has cooled. Upper Oso is the nearest campground on file, about nine miles away. Access is open, no fee recorded.
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 Montecito 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
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the northeast.
- Highest ground nearby
- 698 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northeast
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 2% 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 Upper Oso Campground provides ample opportunity for exploration of California's coastal mountains. It is a family-friendly campground, equipped with equestrian sites, and is close to a variety of trails and several mountain streams.Recreation A variety of hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails begin in and around the campground, including the Santa Cruz Trail, which traverses 18 miles north to the San Rafael Wilderness. The 2.5-mile Aliso National Recreation Trail leads...
Montecito Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key.
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