Saline Valley Hot Springs are a series of three thermal springs located in the remote Saline Valley area of

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...

Description

Each of the three main springs have several primitive soaking pools constructed from local rock, concrete and tile. Locals from the area constructed nearby showers, and a dishwashing station for visitors. The National Park System installed vault toilets nearby. Overnight parking is permitted up to 30 days per year. In 2019 the National Park Service finalized a management plan for the hot springs pertaining to visitor use and cultural and natural resource preservation. Three new camping areas are being developed approximately 100 feet or more from the spring sources to support car camping as well as walk-in campers. The springs are only accessible via a 50-mile long undeveloped dirt road with no facilities.

Lower Warm Springs

The lower warm springs consist of a series of intermittent soaking pools; as of 2011 the lower pool is consistently filled with warm spring water. The temperature of the warm springs is 110 °F.

Palm Spring

There are two primitive soaking pools fed by Palm Spring. The Wizard Pool is one of the hottest thermal springs in the Saline Valley with temperatures between 105 °F and 112 °F. The three and-a-half foot deep hexagonal soaking pool was built in the 1980s from rock and concrete. Seating has been built surrounding the pool. The Volcano Pool has a cooler temperature than Wizard pool, and is also constructed from rock and concrete and is above ground, whereas Wizard is below ground. Volcano is 15 feet across, with temperatures ranging from 98 °F to 104 °F.

Upper Warm Spring

Upper Warm Spring emerges from the source at 102 °F. It consists of two soaking pools, a small sand-bottomed pool and a cool water pool.

Water profile

The hot spring water emerges from the source between 102 °F and 112 °F.

Location

The springs are located in a remote region of Death Valley, accessible by a 50-mile long dirt road through deep desert. The

Chicken Strip Saline Valley Warm Springs Airfield, commonly known as the Chicken Strip, is a non-towered dirt airstrip not depicted on an FAA sectional chart. The airstrip provides general aviation fly-in access to the Saline Valley hot springs in Death Vall ...

, a non-towered, makeshift dirt

landing strip According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, o ...

is found nearby.

References

{{Reflist Hot springs of California Geothermal areas in the United States Death Valley National Park Balneotherapy