Mono Hot Springs (formerly Lower Hot Springs and Lower Mineral Hot Springs) is a summer resort and campground at a group of hot springs in Fresno County, central California. It is located within the Sierra National Forest, northeast of Fresno via California State Route 168.

History

The Mono Hot Springs post office was established in 1945. A general store and stone cabins are located at the rustic Mono Hot Springs Resort. The resort was built in 1935, a few years after Southern California Edison completed this section of the Kaiser Pass Road for the

Big Creek Hydroelectric Project The Big Creek Hydroelectric Project is an extensive hydroelectric power scheme on the upper San Joaquin River system, in the Sierra Nevada of central California. The project is owned and operated by Southern California Edison (SCE). The use and reu ...

Geography

Mono Hot Springs lies at an elevation of , in the central

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. There are six separate hot springs, with the hottest . The public springs are on the hillside across the South Fork of the San Joaquin River from the campground and resort. The locale is between Florence Lake and Lake Thomas A Edison reservoirs of the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project. It is reached via the forest service's Kaiser Pass Road, northeast from its start at

Huntington Lake Huntington Lake is a reservoir in Fresno County, California on Big Creek, located in the Sierra Nevada at an elevation of 7000 ft. The lake receives water from Southern California Edison's Big Creek Hydroelectric Project, as well as the ...

. The road crosses the Kaiser Pass before reaching the hot springs and reservoirs.

Recreation

The Sierra National Forest's Mono Hot Springs Campground is located adjacent to the springs and resort, on the river. The Mono Creek Campground, is in the vicinity to the north, on a meadow along Mono Creek. Ward Lake and Jackass Meadow Campgrounds in the area. Mono Hot Springs is a trailhead for hiking trails to local mountains, a

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged mag ...

, lakes, and to reach the Ansel Adams Wilderness area on the north and John Muir Wilderness area on the east.

Natural history

Large rounded

rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...

s of Sierra granite predominate the terrain, rising above the vegetation and river.

Flora

The Mono Hot Springs Evening-primrose, ''

Camissonia ''Camissonia'', sometimes commonly known as sun cup or sundrop, is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the evening primrose family Onagraceae. A total of 12 species are known, nearly all from western North America, especially in the Califor ...

sierrae'' subsp. ''alticola'', is endemic and limited to this area and several sites in Yosemite National Park. It is listed on the California Native Plant Society '' Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California''. Predominant trees in the surrounding forest include Sierra lodgepole pines (''Pinus contorta'') and Ponderosa pines (''Pinus ponderosa'').

References

External links

* {{authority control Hot springs of California Sierra National Forest Landforms of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Landforms of Fresno County, California