Mustang 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.
Mustang Springs is a warm spring in the Black Rock Field Office country of Pershing County, close to ninety miles from Lovelock. The water is barely above tepid, more a cool bath than a hot one. It is public BLM land, listed as open, and reaching it involves an actual hike.
Two miles of walking separate the spring from the nearest road, and no name or condition for that road appears on file. The land sits near six thousand feet, cold enough for a real snow season, two feet and a bit. Dry the rest of the year. The approach from Lovelock is most of the trip.
Cold months rate best on the record, December to February, though a two mile hike in snow at this elevation is a different proposition from a summer walk. No fee, no campground listed. Access is open per the BLM. The temperature comes from a USGS site, date unknown, and at this warmth a small seasonal swing could make it feel cold.
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 Mustang Springs.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the southeast.
- Highest ground nearby
- 751 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the southeast
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 43% 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.
Mustang Springs sits at 5,830 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 23% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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