Sykes Hot Spring
Sykes Hot Spring is a backcountry spring in Los Padres National Forest, Monterey County, roughly sixteen miles from Carmel Valley Village. Forest Service land, open access. The record lists no temperature reading, so how hot it runs is not on file. The name alone should not be taken as proof of a soak.
Two miles and change from the nearest road, a hike as the record classes it. That road has no name given. Elevation sits under thirteen hundred feet. Rain runs twenty-seven inches annually and snow is almost unheard of. Upper fifties as a yearly mean.
China Camp Campground, about seven miles away, is the closest listed. No best months are listed and no fee. This is a hike-in spring, so plan for the walk both ways. With no temperature on record, you will be finding out for yourself. Snow is no factor here, so the season stays open year-round as far as the record goes.
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 Sykes 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
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 790 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the east
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 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 42% 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 Pleasantly nestled under a large canopy of pine trees, China Camp is a campground where peace and quiet is commonplace. The spacious campsites allow you to set up camp with more than enough space between you and your neighbors. As you drive into the campground you are overtaken by the sweet smell of pine and the natural beauty surrounding the campground.Recreation China Camp offers trails along the hillside and a trailhead which begins in the campground. The Pine Ridge trailhead begi...
Sykes Hot Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear.
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