Remington Hot Springs
The dark tub is on the right. This is the cluster with two smaller tubs.
Hike Review
Cassie and I visited the hot springs in the morning after a great night’s sleep.
The hike down to the hot springs was only a quarter mile, but it was steep and slippery.
There were five other people at the hot springs when we arrived, but everyone cleared out after 15 minutes or so. Even with the five people, however, there was more than enough room for everyone.
There were three distinct tubbing clusters, one near the river with three large tubs, one even closer to the river that had two smaller tubs, and one totally away from the river, which had a small single tub.
There were two small tubs in the two tubbing clusters next to the river where the temperature of the water seemed to be above 100 degrees (someone we spoke to stated that one of the tubs was 102 degrees). All other tubs (including the one away from the river) were cooler (but still warm).
The water in the tubs was crystal clear. The hot springs smelled like a hint of sulfur. Which meant we faintly smelled of sulfur the rest of the day.
There are two parking lots, one small lot and a larger one a bit more down the road. The smaller one is where we parked, though I don’t think I will in the future as I saw broken glass (as a sign of a car break-in). The larger lot also had portable toilets.
Cassie also did a cold plunge.
Like Goldilocks, we tried all the options.
This is the small tub next to the trail.
What I Learned
I still enjoy getting unbearably hot in the hot tub, then running into freezing water (the river in this case), then hitting repeat. The tingly sensation on my skin when getting back in the hot tub is just the best.
Apparently, volunteers built these tubs with concrete and decorated them to make these hot springs more accessible for everyone. How wonderful!
What Happened?
.4 miles, 12 mins, 0 ft of ascent
.3 miles, 10 mins, 273 ft of ascent
Cassie and I parked at the smaller parking lot, then carefully walked down to the hot springs in our swimming clothes (with warmer layers on top).
The largest cluster of pools
We first came across the smaller tub away from the river, felt that the water was warm, but not hot, and kept walking to check out the tubs near the river. When we saw the rest of them, we were wowed as these were the nicest tubs we had seen in a public hot springs like this. We took off our warm layers and walked into the tubs.
At first, we were in the larger tub cluster with two other people. The tubs are huge, so we did not have any issues with sharing, though I was a little annoyed that one of the people was playing music through their phone speakers (it wasn’t super loud, to give them a little credit). After soaking for 10 or so minutes, the crew that was in the smaller tub cluster came over to tell us that the one that they were leaving was the best—so we carried our stuff over to see if they were right.
They were so right—my favorite was the smaller tub (with dark rock) that was the hottest tub at the hot springs. We settled in and enjoyed the peace as we were eventually the only ones at the hot springs.
Others ended up coming by and we were almost done, so we headed back over to the big cluster and sought out the smallest tub there as that one was previously occupied and the water was supposed to be hot too. We felt that the water wasn’t as hot as the dark tub, but it was awesome that there were so many temperatures for everyone to choose from.
We didn’t know it, but we had spent about an hour at the hot springs and we were feeling ready for the rest of the day. We carefully hiked up back to Ramona and started driving towards Lake Isabella.