Lower Waunita 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.
Lower Waunita Hot Springs is a scalding source in Gunnison County, twenty-two miles from the town of Gunnison. The reading is far above anything you could sit in untempered. A 1976 USGS sample puts the water slightly alkaline. Land owner and access status are empty, and OpenStreetMap has nothing for it.
Roadside, under two hundred feet from an unnamed road. This is high country, with heavy snow, six and a half feet or so each winter, and a dry climate otherwise. Gunnison is the only town in the record and it is a fair drive. Monarch Park campground is about ten miles away. Nothing is recorded for land unit.
Winter ranks best. At this temperature skin burns on contact, so stay clear of the source. With access unrecorded and no land owner listed, find out who controls the site before you go. Camping: Monarch Park, ten miles. The chemistry on file is a single sample from the mid-seventies.
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 Lower Waunita Hot Springs.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 275 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northeast
A slice through the ground from north to south, about 0.6 miles end to end.
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 87% 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.
The water at Lower Waunita Hot Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 7.7).
Overview This Campground is Closed for the 2024 Season for renovation. Will reopen in 2025. Monarch Park is nestled at the base of Monarch Ridge, a short drive north of Monarch Pass on Highway 50. Some campsites at the family-friendly destination are located on the banks of the South Fork Arkansas River, while others lie along a creek. Popular activities in the area include hiking the Colorado/Continental DivideTrail and fishing. Beaver ponds near the entrance to the campground make a great...
At 8,901 feet, Lower Waunita Hot Springs is in high-altitude territory where the air is noticeably thinner. Soaking in hot water accelerates dehydration and can amplify altitude effects like headache and fatigue. UV radiation is roughly 36% stronger here. Wear sunscreen even on overcast days and take breaks from the water to rehydrate.
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