Alcova Hot Springs
Hot water beside a reservoir. Alcova Hot Springs comes up on Bureau of Reclamation ground at Alcova Reservoir in Natrona County, Wyoming, roughly twenty-seven miles from Mills. The flow is listed at 129 degrees, too hot to sit in as it emerges, and access is recorded as open. The land is tagged as a recreation management area.
Dry country, about a foot of rain in a typical year and a winter that drops four feet or so of snow. The spring is a third of a mile from the Alcova Dam Access Road, a short walk. Elevation is around 5,500 feet. Pete's Draw Campground is about three miles off, the closest on the record.
The water comes out hot enough to burn, so test it before any part of you goes in and look for where it has cooled. Winter shows as the best season on file. Pete's Draw is close for camping. No fee is noted, and access is open, though this is Reclamation land around a dam, so current reservoir rules apply.
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 Alcova 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.
- Setting
- Canyon floor
- Steep ground climbs away on both sides of the spring.
- Highest ground nearby
- 366 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the northwest
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 close to the US average of 65. It's higher than at 2% 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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Pete's Draw has both a day-use and overnight camping area to enjoy hiking, wildlife viewing, picnicking, fishing, boating and camping. There's a parking area, vault toilet, seven overnight campsites with picnic tables, fire rings, shelters, tent pads, and RV parking, trash receptacle, and a hardened pedestrian trail. No water is available at this campground. Campsites are first come, first served. No overnight parking is allowed in the day use area. This campground receives heavy visitatio...
Alcova Hot Springs sits at 5,501 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 22% stronger than at sea level, so bring sunscreen and drink more water than you normally would.
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Alcova Hot Springs is road-accessible, so you can bring more gear. The water runs hot, so extra hydration is key. Cold air temperatures make a changing robe or warm layers essential.
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