Hot water
Geothermal destinations in the USA
Hot springs are groundwater that met heat and came back: terraces, steam, and pools that are not always safe to touch.
Hot Springs National Park is the Arkansas mountain behind Bathhouse Row. Thermopolis is the Wyoming terraces on the Bighorn. Umpqua is a cliff of pools above a cold river. Hot Creek, in the Long Valley Caldera, is a viewing site — the water boils and soaking is prohibited. Mickey Hot Springs is the remote Alvord field, high-clearance country, and the hottest pools are not for bathing. Yellowstone stays on the volcanic plate; this chapter is the springs that are the whole reason to stop.
- Plates
- 5
- States
- 4
States in this chapter
- Arkansas
- California
- Oregon
- Wyoming
Geothermal chapter
The plates
Plate CCCLXXVgeothermal34.5° N · 93.1° W
Hot Springs National Park
Hot Springs Mountain, Arkansas
A mountain that still sends hot water into a town.
Open plate
Plate CCCLXXVIgeothermal37.7° N · 118.8° W
Hot Creek Geological Site
Long Valley Caldera, Inyo National Forest, California
A trout creek that boils in the middle.
Open plate
Plate CCCLXXVIIgeothermal43.7° N · 108.2° W
Hot Springs State Park
Thermopolis, Bighorn River, Wyoming
Color laid down by hot water on the Bighorn.
Open plate
Plate CCCLXXVIIIgeothermal43.3° N · 122.4° W
Umpqua Hot Springs
North Umpqua, Umpqua National Forest, Oregon
Hot pools stacked on a cliff over a cold river.
Open plate
Plate CCCLXXIXgeothermal42.7° N · 118.3° W
Mickey Hot Springs
Alvord Desert basin, Oregon
Boiling blue pools in a basin almost no one drives.
Open plate
Asked at the trailhead
Questions already asked
- Where can I see hot springs in the USA?
- Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Thermopolis in Wyoming, Umpqua and Mickey in Oregon, and Hot Creek in California. Hot Creek and Mickey are for looking, not soaking.
Change course