5 Natural Hot Springs in Mammoth California
Imagine yourself sitting in a warm-hot hot spring with healing powers (due to the high mineral content in the water), staring at the view of the snow-capped mountains in front of you while the California sunlight shines down, snacking on whatever you like to snack on, drinking whatever you like to drink, having deep convos with your friends (or no convos, so you can take it all in in peaceful silence). Doesn’t that sound amazing?! Might I also mention that the hot spring you’re sitting in is all natural, unregulated, untouched, so you don’t have to pay to get this experience! And it’s easily accessible from your car and a very quick walk. What a deal! You’re probably wondering where you can find these hot springs and lucky for you I’ve listed them below.
Note: Silly that I have to say this, but please don’t litter or leave your garbage at the hot springs and ruin the experience for everyone else.
1. Crab Cooker Hot Springs
This one is my favorite! It’s a perfectly round, man-made rock tub in a vast field with a view of the mountains. Like it’s name suggests, the water is super hot when you first get in, but once you settle it feels real nice. This one can probably fit 4-6 people comfortably. We had 8 people in there and it was shoulder to shoulder, but a great way to make friends I guess…
Distance from car: 1 minute walk
2. The Rock Tub Hot Springs
I couldn’t get a full picture of this tub but it’s oval shaped and probably can fit 4 comfortably. The water is lukewarm and there’s a pipe where the water drips in from. The bottom of the tub is pretty mossy in some areas so you end up sliding while sitting. This one was a bit hard to find on google maps. Google told us we had arrived but there wasn’t a path so we kept driving and luckily we found it!
Distance from car: right outside your car
3. Travertine Hot Springs
This is my second favorite hot spring. I always go to this hot spring because it’s located in Bridgeport which is a perfect stop on the way to Mammoth from the Bay Area. There’s 3 pools here that people usually soak in:
- The main hot spring has a few pools and can fit quite a bit of people. 2.5 of that pool is warm/hot and there’s a smaller pool that is cold. This hot spring tends to have a lot people, but it’s a cool crowd so it doesn’t feel too crowded. To get to this main pool, go to the right of the bathroom.
- If you go to the left of the bathroom, you’ll find a small pool that fits 2 people.
- There’s also another hot spring in the parking lot area and you can see the steam when you drive in.
Distance from car: 1-2 minutes walk
4. Wild Willy’s Hot Springs
If you’ve seen photos of a heart shaped hot springs and was wondering where it is, it’s here. I haven’t had a chance to soak in it because it’s always filled with people. I just soak in the other hot spring that is huge, like really really big and can fit all the SoCal college kids that usually come here. There’s also always dogs running around here too. The water here was semi-dirty with hairs in the water since there’s always a million people but I tell myself that the temperature of the water kills the germs.
Distance from car: 5 minutes from car
5. Shepherd Hot Springs
This hot spring already had people in it when we got there, and we didn’t want to intrude since it looked like it could only fit 4 – 6 people comfortably. Heard the water here is pretty hot.
Distance from car: right outside your car
Location
Mammoth is a 5 hour drive east of San Francisco and a 5 hour drive north of Los Angeles.
