Tecopa Natural Hot Springs
Hike Review:
After a long day of hiking in Death Valley National Park, we drove to Tecopa for a natural bath.
The trailhead was about a quarter mile from the hot springs and it was hard packed dirt.
There were two other families at the hot springs, but it didn’t feel crowded due to how large the hot springs were.
The water was definitely above 100 degrees in the hot spots (advertised as 105℉ on various websites), and was cooler along the flow of the springs.
The hot springs felt wonderful. With no strong smell of sulfur or nothin’.
What I Learned
I love outdoor, natural hot springs. I can’t believe people skip this to use indoor hot springs in the town of Tecopa, where everything feels like a regular bathhouse.
There were a couple of folks that entered the water in the nude, but the non-nudists outnumbered the nudists. It was totally dark by the time we finished, so it wasn’t like anyone saw anything.
The next day, there were only adults and nudists, so we did as the romans do. It was both of our first times being naked in public—it wasn’t too bad.
Friends
Jo and I went to the hot springs together.
What Happened?
After two days without showers, we made great use of the Tecopa hot springs to refresh ourselves and warm our cold bodies up. We were almost shivering by the time we had changed into our swim suits, but by the time we were done, we walked back to my car wondering why we had shivered on the way to the hot springs. The stars and the moon took up the sky as soon as the sun left, and it made the whole experience that much more intimate.
The only thing that made the hot springs less than ideal was this one family where the mother and father neglected a spoiled child. The kid was either screaming or complaining loudly the whole time and both Jo and I were disappointed in the parents.
But even with that, we loved the experience so much that we came back the next morning and stayed for an entire hour.
