The Needle Rocks Hot Springs
The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Plural this time: The Needle Rocks Hot Springs, a separate listing on Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation land about 33 miles from Spanish Springs. Near-boiling water, tribal ground, public access unknown. A 1969 sample found the water heavily mineralized, with dissolved solids above four thousand milligrams per liter.
Over half a mile of walking from an unidentified road, a longer approach than the neighboring Needle Rocks listing. Tribal land with no access status on record. Low desert elevation. Winter snow is light and rain is sparse. There is no photo for this listing.
If you go at all, go in winter. The water can scald instantly; keep well back from the vents. The 1969 sample is the only chemistry on file and is more than fifty years old, so the alkaline reading may not hold. Access through the reservation should be cleared with the tribe first.
USGS hasn't flown a detailed laser scan here yet, so this view comes from aerial photos and older elevation data.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the north.
- Highest ground nearby
- 142 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the north
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 1½ times the US average of 65. It's higher than at 34% 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 The Needle Rocks Hot Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 8.1) with 4095 mg/L total dissolved solids. It is notably rich in calcium (may support bone density and joint health), sulfate (traditionally used for skin conditions and inflammation), and chloride (natural antiseptic with skin health benefits).