Gila / Lightfeather Hot Springs
Rules on the ground. The source runs about 130F -- too hot to enter directly. Soak in the rock-walled pools at river level, not at the spring itself.
Every hot spring we have written up in New Mexico — where to park, whether the road is open, what the water is actually like, and which ones are clothing-optional.
3 spots have been written up by hand. A further 8 are on the map from public data but nobody has confirmed them yet.
Someone has actually been to each of these. Where we are unsure, the spot page says so.
Rules on the ground. The source runs about 130F -- too hot to enter directly. Soak in the rock-walled pools at river level, not at the spring itself.
Ojo Caliente · Northern New Mexico
Getting there. A historic mineral-springs resort with a cluster of pools of different waters (iron, arsenic, soda, lithia) in the high desert north of Santa Fe. Day passes + lodging.
Rules on the ground. Private resort — swimsuits. Reserve a day pass, especially weekends; quiet-zone rules in some pools.
If it is your first time. One of the oldest spas in the country — go for a weekday soak, and the iron pool is the local favorite.
near Jemez Springs · Jemez Mountains
Getting there. A free, primitive hillside hot spring above the Jemez River, ~10 min uphill from a Highway 4 pullout in the Santa Fe NF. Long a customary clothing-optional soak.
Rules on the ground. Free forest hot spring where clothing-optional use is customary but not guaranteed; day-use only, no camping, pack it out. Read the room and be respectful.
If it is your first time. Beautiful canyon views from the pools. Go on a weekday morning for solitude — weekends get busy and the vibe shifts.
These come from OpenStreetMap. They are real places at real coordinates, but nobody has been to them for us yet, so there is no write-up — no parking notes, no word on whether the road is open, no clothing policy. We label them exactly that way rather than pretending otherwise.
If you go to one, you can be the first person to confirm it, and you stay credited on that spot permanently.
Takes about a minute, and you do not need an account.