Radium Springs
The village of Radium Springs in Dona Ana County has a hot spring of the same name a couple of miles out. Hot, well past soaking temperature, near 130. Alkaline, with sulfate and chloride. Access is unrecorded and no land owner is named. The temperature measurement is from 1957 and the record holds nothing newer.
About a hundred feet off the road. Low desert at around 5,300 feet. Snow is nearly nonexistent and rain comes to eight inches a year. No road name in the record. There is a photo. The Wikipedia page attached to this record is about Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia, a different place entirely.
Test it before contact; it is hot. Aguirre Spring Recreation Area and Campground, about 23 miles off, is the only camping listed. Check ownership before you stop, since the spring is close to a village and the frontage is likely somebody's. Cold months are the comfortable ones in this desert. Do not rely on the 1957 reading.
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 Radium 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.
- Setting
- Open ground
- Flat, open ground all around.
- Highest ground nearby
- 7 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
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 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 Radium Springs is slightly alkaline (pH 8.2). It is notably rich in sulfate (traditionally used for skin conditions and inflammation) and chloride (natural antiseptic with skin health benefits).
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The high wall, needle-like spires of the Organ Mountains curve dramatically around a semicircle of Chihuahuan Desert habitat at the Aguirre Spring Campground. The campground, nestled at the base of spectacular cliffs, overlooks the Tularosa Basin and White Sands National Park. Alligator juniper, gray oak, mountain mahogany and sotol are a few of the abundant plant species here. Seasonal springs and streams occur in the canyon bottoms, with a few perennial springs that support riparian habitat...
Radium Springs sits at 5,300 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 21% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Radium Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key. Bring sun protection for exposed soaking.
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