Hot Creek, starting as Mammoth Creek, is a stream in

Mono County Mono County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The county seat is Bridgeport. The coun ...

of eastern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

. It is within the

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 po ...

Course

Mammoth Creek

The creek begins its course in the eastern Sierra Nevada named as Mammoth Creek. It originates as an outflow of Twin Lakes, just south of

Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located within the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera and Mono Counties. It is home to a large ski area primarily on the Mono County side. Mammoth Mount ...

and above the town of Mammoth Lakes. The stream is primarily sourced from melted snow water at above sea level. It is quite cold, rarely being above .

Hot Creek

As Mammoth Creek leaves the Sierra and flows east into the

Long Valley Caldera Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the Earth's largest calderas, measuring about long (east-west), wide (north-south), and up to deep. Long Valley was formed ...

it is joined by warmer water from

geothermal spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

s at the Hot Creek State Fish Hatchery. From this confluence the stream is named Hot Creek, though its water temperature seldom exceeds until it reaches Hot Creek Gorge, east of Mammoth Lakes. In the Hot Creek Gorge, numerous

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by c ...

s near and in the stream bed add hot water into the stream. Its mouth is at the confluence with the

Owens River The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011, It drains into and through the ...

upstream from Crowley Lake.

Ecology

The springs near Hot Creek host one of the two known

Tui chub The tui chub (''Siphateles bicolor'') is a cyprinid fish native to western North America. Widespread in many areas, it is an important food source for other fish, including the cutthroat trout. Range The tui chub's range includes the Lahon ...

populations of the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

Owens tui chub The Owens tui chub (''Siphateles bicolor snyderi'') was described in 1973 as a subspecies of tui chub endemic to the Owens River Basin in Eastern California, United States. The Owens tui chub is distinguished from its closest relative, the La ...

species. The

Long Valley Observatory The California Volcano Observatory (CalVO) is the volcano observatory that monitors the volcanic and geologic activity of California and Nevada. It is a part of the Volcano Hazards Program of the United States Geological Survey, a scientific agen ...

of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a

volcano observatory A volcano observatory is an institution that conducts research and monitoring of a volcano. Each observatory provides continuous and periodic monitoring of the seismicity, other geophysical changes, ground movements, volcanic gas chemistry, and hyd ...

, monitors spring activity, water temperatures and chemistry, and stream flow, as well as the

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

volcanic activity.

Hot Creek hydrothermal system

hydrothermal Hydrothermal circulation in its most general sense is the circulation of hot water (Ancient Greek ὕδωρ, ''water'',Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). ''A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with th ...

systems, the circulation of

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

is driven by a combination of topography and geothermal heat sources. The system in the Long Valley Caldera is recharged primarily from snowmelt in the highlands around the western and southern rims of the caldera. The meltwater infiltrates to depths of a few kilometers (or miles), where some is heated to at least by hot rock near the

Inyo craters Inyo may refer to: Places California * Inyo County, California * Inyo National Forest, USA * The Inyo Mountains * The Mono–Inyo Craters Other uses * Japanese for yin and yang * A bee fly genus ''Inyo Inyo may refer to: Places Californ ...

. The heated water, kept from boiling by high pressure, still has lower density than cold water, and it rises along steeply inclined fractures to depths of . It then flows eastward through rock layers to hydrothermal vent discharge points at the surface along Hot Creek and around Crowley Lake. The water temperature declines eastward because of heat loss and mixing with cold water, and in the springs near Crowley Lake temperatures are at only about . The springs in Hot Creek all emerge along a stream section between two faults and discharge a total of about 8.5 cubic feet per second (about 240 liters per second) of hot water. This water flow represents nearly 70 percent of the total heat discharged by all thermal springs in Long Valley Caldera. The thermal springs farther east all discharge less water and at lower temperatures. The larger and more vigorous springs discharge from fractures in the volcanic rock in the gorge. Rock fracturing happens because the thermal area lies within a region of frequent

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

s and active uplift of the ground. When fractures become sealed by mineral deposition, spring discharge and temperature decline. When new fractures develop or sealed fractures reopen, spring discharge and temperatures can increase suddenly.

Access

The Hot Creek Gorge area of Hot Creek is managed by the U.S.

as a geologic interpretive site and recreation area. It is popular for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

bird watching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

, and

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

activities.

Dangers and recent activity

Hot Creek in the Hot Creek Gorge section can harbor dangers as the locations, discharge rates, and temperatures of springs often change. The changes can be sudden and dangerous to unprepared visitors (especially if entering beyond walkways and fences). Since May 2006, springs in and near the most popular swimming areas have been geysering or intermittently spurting very hot, sediment-laden water as high as above the stream surface. At times this geysering activity is vigorous enough to produce "popping" sounds audible from hundreds of feet away. The geysering usually lasts a few seconds and occurs at irregular intervals, with several minutes between eruptions. Fumaroles, or steam vents, are also located in the gorge. They can occur in the ground beyond the creek bed. The unpredictability of this hazardous spring activity led the U.S. Forest Service to close parts of the Hot Creek Gorge in June 2006, and the closure has remained in effect as of February 2016. Hot Creek Gorge was a filming location in the 1969 film True Grit, as well as the 1960 film

North to Alaska ''North to Alaska'' is a 1960 comedic Western/Northern film directed by Henry Hathaway and John Wayne (uncredited). The picture stars Wayne along with Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian, and Capucine. The script is based on the 1939 play ' ...

also starring John Wayne, the 1966 Steve McQueen film

Nevada Smith ''Nevada Smith'' is a 1966 American Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Arthur Kennedy and Suzanne Pleshette. The film was made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association ...

, and the 1971 film Shoot Out with Gregory Peck, which also starred True Grit's Jeff Corey.

References

{{reflist

External links

USGS: Geology of Hot Creek and Hot Creek GorgeUSGS: Long Valley Caldera Virtual TourU.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program: Long Valley Observatory website
Hot springs of California Rivers of Mono County, California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Tributaries of the Owens River Inyo National Forest Rivers of Northern California Hot springs of Mono County, California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in California