The Point Arena Hot Springs are

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s located along the

Garcia River The Garcia River is a river on the northern coast of California, in southern Mendocino County. The river's watershed covers and its mainstem is long. The watershed receives of precipitation per year near the coast and inland. The watershed's ...

, 15 miles southeast of

Point Arena Point Arena, formerly known as Punta Arena (Spanish for "Sandy Point") is a small coastal city in Mendocino County, California, United States. Point Arena is located west of Hopland, at an elevation of . The population was 460 at the 2020 cen ...

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in the United States. The hot springs served as a popular resort in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1913, the ''California Blue Book'' described the Point Arena Hot Springs as "one of California's most beautiful health resorts." The Point Arena Hot Springs reside within private timber company property, and are no longer legally accessible to the public.

The springs

The springs are located in the canyon of the

. There are two very small, mud bottomed pools on the steep and slippery rock bank of the river. Located within private timber company property, the springs are no longer legally accessible to the public. The springs produce between 1.5 and 3 gallons of mild

sulphur Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical ...

water at between 90 and 95 degrees. Now only accessible by hike, the hot springs are 7 arduous miles with 48 river crossings, some so deep that one must carry their gear above their heads. The hike is very hard and can take 5+ hours.

Resort history

The resort was founded in 1895 and opened to the public in 1904. By 1910 a hotel was built on site, including several cottages and camping tents, with a capacity for 100 guests. The resort offered, hunting, fishing,

croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...

, billiards, a bowling alley, and a photography darkroom. It also offered onsite dining and dancing in the evening. The resort cost $12 a week to visit. While the resort was operating, the springs were formed into cemented basins, with two small bathhouses built over the stream with

bathtub A bathtub, also known simply as a bath or tub, is a container for holding water in which a person or another animal may Bathing, bathe. Most modern bathtubs are made of thermoformed Acrylic resin, acrylic, porcelain enamel, porcelain-enameled s ...

s. Guests also bathed directly in the springs. The property was only accessible by horse and carriage. The Hotel and accompanying buildings burned down in the 1920s, leaving only 2 small concrete tubs as evidence the resort ever existed.

References

External links

KRIS Garcia River: Picture Page
featuring images of the Point Arena Hot Springs {{Coord, 38, 52, 26.4, N, 123, 31, 4.8, W, display=title 1895 establishments in California Hot springs of California Bodies of water of Mendocino County, California Tourist attractions in Mendocino County, California Defunct resorts in California