Saratoga Hot Spring
People search for Saratoga Hot Spring more than for most springs in Douglas County, and it is easy to see why they might: Johnson Lane is barely a mile away. The water comes out hot, past the range where you would sit in it without mixing in something cooler. Ownership is blank in the record and so is any public access status.
The source lies about a hundred and forty feet off Vicky Lane, so the approach amounts to parking and stepping out. Elevation is moderate, in the high four thousands. Snow is the surprise. Seventy-odd inches a year is heavy for this part of the state, and total precipitation runs higher here than in the valleys to the east.
The record recommends December through February, and there will be snow on the ground then. Roadside. Zephyr Cove RV and Campground, roughly eleven miles off, is where the record puts the nearest camping. Because the water burns at this temperature, test it before contact. The ownership gap means you should confirm you are allowed on the ground.
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 Saratoga 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
- Gentle slope
- The ground tilts gently up to the east.
- Highest ground nearby
- 113 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the east
A slice through the ground from west to east, 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 62% 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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Saratoga Hot Spring is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key.
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