♨️ Hot springs in California
78 on the map · 3 confirmed or written up
Nanitch › All spots › Hot springs in California
California's hot springs split cleanly into two kinds: developed resorts you book, and undeveloped soaks at the end of a dirt road. They want completely different preparation, and the list below tells you which is which by whether anyone has written the drive down yet.
Open the map for California →
The law, briefly
California's statute is Penal Code § 314 — the exposure has to be made “willfully and lewdly”, so it is the lewd quality of the act — not the nakedness — that the section is aimed at.
It is not drafted to reach ordinary, non-sexual nudity.
That is not the same as “it's legal here.” Counties and cities legislate separately, and whoever manages the ground — State Parks, the Forest Service, BLM, a county, a private owner — sets its own rules on top. Check the land manager for the spot you're actually going to.
Nanitch is a map, not a law firm, and none of this is legal advice. Rules change and enforcement is local — if it matters, check with the agency that manages the land before you go. Statute last read August 2026.
Confirmed or written up (3)
These have a page here because somebody has been to them: curated by Nanitch, confirmed by a member, or written up with real access notes.
- Deep Creek Hot Springs Customary / tolerated · San Bernardino NF, near Apple Valley · Oct–May
San Bernardino NF. ~2 mi hike in (Bradford Ridge or the longer PCT approach) to riverside pools. Clothing-optional by custom. Day-use; adventure pass.
- Saline Valley Warm Springs Customary / tolerated · Death Valley National Park · Oct–Apr
Very remote clothing-optional springs deep in Death Valley NP — hours of rough dirt road (high-clearance/4x4). Volunteer-kept pools, palm oasis.
- Sierra Hot Springs Wellness facility · Sierraville · Year-round
A clothing-optional retreat near Sierraville with natural hot pools (Temple Dome, Meditation Pool) in a high mountain meadow. Day passes and lodging; membership at the door.
Also on the map (44)
Named hot springs imported from OpenStreetMap that nobody has confirmed yet. They are on the map and in the app, and they get a page here the moment someone reports back from one — not before. Listing every one of them:
- Alkali Hot Springs
- Big Caliente Hot Spring
- Buckeye Hot Springs
- Campbell Hot Springs
- Champagne Baths
- Children's Tub
- Crab Cooker Hot Spring
- Dirty Socks Hot Spring
- Drakesbad Hot Springs
- East Fork Carson River Hot Springs
- Fales Hot Spring
- Five Palms
- Franklin Hot Springs
- free natural hot pool
- Hilltop Hot Spring
- Holtville Hot Spring
- Hot Creek Geological Site
- Hot springs of Slab city
- Iva Bell Hot Springs
- Kabuki Springs & Spa · San Francisco
- Keough Hot Ditch
- Kern Hot Spring
- Little Caliente Spring
- Little Creek Hot Springs
- Marble Hot Springs
- Miracle Hot Springs
- Montecito Hot Springs
- Remington Hot Springs
- Rock Tub Hot Spring
- Shepherd Hot Springs
- Spa Palace
- Steep Ravine Hot Spring
- Sulphur Springs
- Sunrise Pool
- Sykes Hot Spring
- Tecopa Natural Hot Springs
- Terminal Geyser
- Travertine Hot Spring
- Upper Warm Spring
- Volcano Pool
- Warm Springs
- Warner Hot Spring
- Wild Willy's Hot Springs
- Wizard Pool
A further 31 hot springs in California are on the map with no name of their own — OpenStreetMap records them only as “hot spring”. They are on the map; there is nothing to call them by here.
＋ Been to one of these? Tell us what it's like →
Get Nanitch — free on the App Store →