Jordan Hot Springs is series of thermal mineral springs located in the
Golden Trout Wilderness
The Golden Trout Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada, in Tulare County and Inyo County, California. It is located east of Porterville within Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Forest.
It is in siz ...
,
Inyo National Forest
Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest poi ...
, California.
History
Prior to European contact, the hot springs and the surrounding areas were used by the local Indigenous people for centuries as a summer encampment area. In 1857, John Jordan, a Texan, and his family moved to Tulare County during the
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
and
silver rush
A silver rush is the silver-mining equivalent of a gold rush, where the discovery of silver-bearing ore sparks a mass migration of individuals seeking wealth in the new mining region.
Notable silver rushes have taken place in Mexico, Chile, the U ...
. Later, in 1861 he blazed a trail to the hot springs and filed a petition to build a toll road, called the Jordan Trail. The following year he drowned in the
Kern River
The Kern River, previously Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfiel ...
while navigating a raft across the river. In the late 19th century a grouping of log cabins and a logging camp was built.
In 1992, Jordan Hot Springs received
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
status.
Description
There are at least fourteen hot springs making up the Jordan Hot Springs system.
Hot mineral water emerges from the springs at 120°F, and flows down to meet Nine Mile Creek where it cools and collects in a series of primitive rock-walled soaking pools of various temperatures. The average temperature of the water in the soaking pools is 104°F.
The cooler soaking pools are 94°F.
There is also a small, two-foot deep concrete-lined soaking pool.
The ruins of an abandoned early 20th century resort camp are nearby.
Location
The spring can be reached by way of a trail originating at the Blackrock Station, the trail descends 3,000 feet during the six mile hike to the springs; the moderately rigorous return hike ascends 3,000 feet.
GPS coordinates: N 36 13.740 W 118 18.120. There are other hot springs in the area, Middle Fork Hot Springs (also known as Lightfeather Hot Springs) is 8 miles downstream, and Meadows Warm Springs are 4 miles upstream from Jordan Hot Springs.
See also
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List of hot springs in the United States
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This is a dynamic list of hot springs in the United States. The Western states in particular are known for their thermal springs: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyomin ...
*
List of hot springs in the world
References
{{Reflist
Hot springs of California
Inyo National Forest