Mccauley 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.
Body temperature is what McCauley Hot Springs holds, which is why people get in and stay in. It is on Santa Fe National Forest ground in Sandoval County, roughly sixteen miles from Jemez Pueblo, and access is open. Jemez Falls Campground sits a mile and change away. Two other names attach to it on Wikipedia, McCauley Warm Springs and Battleship Rock Hot Springs.
Forest Service land, high country at well over seven thousand feet. From the road you walk a little over half a mile; the road itself is not named on file. This is snow country, with heavy winter totals and a wetter year than the desert below. Averages run cool. The campground is close, so a base is easy.
Go outside the snow season unless you are ready for winter travel; the record flags the dead of winter as the best time, which here means a cold walk. Camp at Jemez Falls, about a mile off. No fee is on record. Temperature and chemistry figures date from a 1974 survey. Open to the public on national forest, so nobody's permission is required.
Wikipedia gives the spring two other names, McCauley Warm Springs and Battleship Rock Hot Springs, and places it in the Santa Fe National Forest near the Jemez Springs area of northern New Mexico.
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 Mccauley Hot Springs.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the northeast.
- Highest ground nearby
- 445 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northeast
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, 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 82% 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 Mccauley Hot Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 8.0).
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Overview Jemez Falls Campground is located in a stunning Ponderosa Pine and forest meadow environment. The campground elevation is 7,880 feet above sea level. Come prepared for warm days and cool nights. The Cerro Pelado Area closure prohibits members of the public from entering Trail 137 from access points South of the East Fork Trailhead. Entry is allowed North from the East Fork Trailhead to Las Conchas Trailhead. Please remember that this campground is special. Help keep it clean and bea...
Mccauley Hot Springs sits at 7,360 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 29% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Mccauley Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear.
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