Wister Mud Pot
Wister Mud Pot is what the name says, a mud pot near the Salton Sea in Imperial County, about four miles from Niland and well below sea level. The thermometer reading on record is 100 degrees. It is mud, though, so the number describes something to watch. Land is held by the local irrigation district, access open, and one photo sits in the record.
Davis Road passes within eighty feet, so the mud pot is a drive-up stop on ground more than two hundred feet below sea level. Rain totals three inches in a typical year, no snow, an average temperature near 77 that makes summer ferocious. The land unit on record is the Salton Sea irrigation district, and no campground is listed within range.
Winter, December through February, is the listed time to come, which anyone who has felt an Imperial Valley July will understand. No fee, open access, roadside. Nothing on file describes a pool or a path, so expect to view it from the road. Niland is the closest place with a name on file, four miles off.
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 Wister Mud Pot.
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
- 3 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northeast
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 70% 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.
Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Wister Mud Pot is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. Bring sun protection for exposed soaking.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Springs Near Wister Mud Pot
More Springs Around 100°F
Hike 1 waterfall near Wister Mud Pot
Looking for more outdoor adventures? Explore waterfall hikes near Wister Mud Pot, California.