I had heard that there were a few good natural hot springs in the Eastern Sierra area on highway 395. But I had also heard that they were kind of hard to find, often on unmarked dirt roads, so I had never really bothered to look for them. This weekend, thanks to Iris and Masa I finally know where some of them are. Over the weekend we went to three different hot springs (though we only went for a dip in one of them.) This post is for future reference, in case I ever want to find these hot springs again.

Travertine Hot Springs

Travertine hot springs is right outside the town of Bridgeport. Heading south from Bridgeport on 395 you turn left onto Jack Sawyer road, which turns into a dirt road. After about a mile on the dirt road you see a parking area with a pit toilet.

Near the toilet is a tub and picnic table. But there was barely any water in the tub. I think this would only be usable in the spring.

There is a more natural looking set of pools a few hundred feet away. These are pretty shallow, but the temperature is pretty nice.

You can see where the hot water comes out of the ground and where it flows into the pools below.

Buckeye Hot Springs

Buckeye Hot Springs is northwest of Bridgeport. Heading North on 395 out of Bridgeport, you turn left onto Twin Lakes road, and then turn right onto Buckeye road.

The hot spring bubbles out of a hillside and flows into a creek.

The water bubbles out of the ground at near boiling temperatures– I burned myself touching the water here.

There are pools right next to the creek which the water collects into. This seems like a pretty awesome place to bathe, you can always cool off in the creek if it gets too hot. It’s definitely clothing optional– there was a fat naked old man here, so I discretely took a picture of the pools while he was shielded behind the hill and quickly left him to bathe in privacy.

Wild Willy’s Hot Spring

Wild Willy’s seems like one of the most popular hot springs, and for good reason. The pool is quite large, it seems to easily fit a couple of dozen people, and it’s deep enough that you can sit neck deep in the water. To get to here you head South on 395 then turn left on Benton Crossing Road. From there you make a right onto a dirt road after the third cattle gate.

We only went at night, but even then it was quite popular. It’s pretty well developed too, there’s a boardwalk that leads from the parking area to the hot spring pool.

I didn’t get to see the hot spring during the day (though it was awesome sitting in the hot spring underneath the stars) so I found this picture online.