California has at least 92 documented hot springs, more than any other state in this directory, spread from the Eastern Sierra to the southern desert. 23 are free wild soaks and 69 are paid resorts, spas, or managed sites. Travertine Hot Springs near Bridgeport and the resort row at Desert Hot Springs anchor the two ends, one a free roadside soak with Sierra views, the other a cluster of mineral spa hotels.
The Eastern Sierra holds the densest wild grouping, along US-395 near Mammoth Lakes, Bishop, and Bridgeport. Free roadside and backcountry soaks like Travertine Hot Springs, Wild Willy's Hot Spring, and Buckeye Hot Springs draw soakers to the base of the mountains.
The southern desert around Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs forms the largest resort cluster, where mineral spa hotels like Azure Palm Hot Springs and Sea Mountain Inn tap the same aquifer. Nearby Tecopa adds desert soaks on the edge of Death Valley.
Wine country north of San Francisco centers on Calistoga, where historic resorts such as Indian Springs Calistoga and Dr. Wilkinson's have drawn bathers since the 1800s. The Central Coast adds scattered soaks near Paso Robles and Ojai.
California offers the widest range of hot springs in the country, from free granite-lined Sierra pools to polished desert spa resorts within a few hours of Los Angeles. A single trip can pair a backcountry soak in the Inyo National Forest with a mineral bath in Calistoga wine country or a palm-shaded resort pool in the desert. The 10,000-foot elevation spread between the high Sierra and the sub-sea-level desert means a soak is comfortable somewhere in the state year-round.
Highlights are drawn from the hot springs documented in this directory. Others may exist in California's remote backcountry and wilderness areas.
Largest desert spa cluster: Azure Palm Hot Springs sits in Desert Hot Springs, the state's largest documented grouping of mineral spa hotels, among more than a dozen tapping the same hot aquifer near Palm Springs.
Free Sierra roadside soak: Travertine Hot Springs sits on a tufa ridge just outside Bridgeport, with terraced rock pools and open views of the Sawtooth Range along US-395, free and reached by a short dirt road.
Historic wine-country resort: Indian Springs Calistoga has operated since 1862, drawing bathers to geyser-fed mineral pools in Napa Valley, among the oldest continuously running resorts in our records.
Geothermal viewing site: Hot Creek Geologic Site near Mammoth Lakes shows boiling springs and fumaroles in a trout stream, a free overlook where swimming is prohibited for safety by the Forest Service.
Backcountry wilderness soak: Sespe Hot Springs in the Los Padres backcountry near Ojai ranks among the hottest wild sources in the state, reached by a long multi-day hike through the Sespe Wilderness.
Death Valley edge soak: Delight's Hot Springs Resort anchors the tiny desert town of Tecopa near Death Valley, with private mineral tubs fed by the warm artesian water the area is named for.
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