Soda 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.
High in Inyo National Forest, Soda Springs is a spring at soaking temperature reached on foot, a hike of a little over two miles from Beck Meadow Trail, the nearest road on file. Lone Pine, about 26 miles away, is the nearest town. It is national forest, open to all comers. Elevation is close to eight thousand feet, so the season is short.
Sierra high country, cold for most of the year, with snowfall on record approaching eight feet a year. The approach is by trail. Troy Meadow Campground, around ten miles off, has the closest sites on record. No fee, and the land is public national forest. Rain outside the snow season is modest, and the average temperature stays on the cool side all year.
The recommended months are midwinter ones, which at this elevation and with this much snow means you need to check conditions with the Inyo National Forest before setting out. Troy Meadow is the camping option, ten miles or so away. The water is soaking warm and safe. Carry what you need for a four-plus-mile round trip.
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 Soda Springs.
- Setting
- Open ground
- Flat, open ground all around.
- Highest ground nearby
- 54 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southwest
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 about 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 56% 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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7800 feet elevation. 73 campsites. 24' maximum RV length. Connects to OHV trails. This campground offers high elevation forest camping. Including; bear boxes, paved parking spurs, and drinking water during season.
Soda Springs sits at 7,857 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 31% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Soda Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear.
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