Travertine Hot Spring

Very cool! Some springs were too hot, some were too cold but the majority of them were just right! People were polite, there was enough parking, the road to get to it is a little bumpy (I wouldn’t want to take my car). Grounds were clean, no trash or waste. Fun place to stop.

— Directions —
From 395 turn onto Jack Sawyer Road. It’ll take ~5 minutes coming from Bridgeport. At the first fork turn left. The road will turn into a dirt road for ~1 mile it’s pretty bumpy so drive carefully. There’s a couple forks but just look for the Travertine Hot Springs Signs (which aren’t always at the forks you have to look farther sometimes). You’ll reach a parking lot with a toilet.
From parking lot you will see one spring directly in front. Walk past this one to the left and there should be two rocks slightly blocking an entrance. Walk through these and follow the path and you’ll be taken to the other 4 springs.
Each of the springs vary in temperature. one of them was just too hot to get into. The pools are a lot smaller than what I imagined but still very cool. You will just have to share the pools with the others. Definitely worth the trip out!

Not worth it. Not like the pictures. The waters are lukewarm at best. The bottoms are muck. Mud puddles really, the largest of which sits only 5 people (who’d better be pretty fond of one another), and the others are smaller.
The locals, who monopolize whatever the area has to offer, try to discourage outsiders. They’ll tell you it’s snowed in, that it’ll cost you $ 5000 to get towed out, give you bad directions, and just generally be unwelcoming.
Check it out if you’re in the area, it’s only a mile off the main drag, but definitely don’t go out of your way… you can do much better for the effort.

BEWARE… been coming here for years and we are so sad because now its getting very over populated and we are not against drinkers but if you’re going to drink take out your trash. Have some respect or this place will be closed down. They are beautiful but not for much longer if people keep treating it this way

I made a spontaneous decision that all my friends and I would drive down to these springs and it was the best idea I’ve ever had. The drive there was unexpectedly snowy, but that’s my fault for not checking the weather, however as soon as we got there it was easy to find a quick spot to park the car and go looking for the springs. When you drive in you’ll see a small spring next to a picnic table, but walk down a little further and you’ll find some lovely pools to soak in. The springs are naturally warm and will soothe any aching muscles if you’re coming there after a long weekend of hiking, camping, or rock climbing.
What made these springs so memorable for me were the people I met, my expectations were to be there with just my friends but not realizing how popular these springs are, more people arrived. It was nice soaking in these pools and talking and sharing laughs with people from different places.
Highly recommend. Remember to leave nothing but footprints behind!

Amazing! These hot springs are just that! Beautiful and fun. Very clean and safe. Fantastic views of the sierras and valley. Even if you arent a hot spring kinda person you owe it to yourself to check this place out.

I’m not sure how Travertine Hot Spring could be any better, other than a paved road and better signage, so any time you are close to the area you need to stop off for a quick soak with a breathtaking view.
I was visiting Bridgeport on a long, late summer trip through the eastern sierra and saw online BLM info that there was a hot spring nearby. I headed down the road from town about an hour before sunset in my sedan. I spotted the dirt road near a curve in the road in an industrial area with a BLM sign and pulled off. The dirt road is not the best, you really need a high clearance vehicle to get the whole way safely. I don’t recommend heading up in a sedan when the road is wet/​muddy. I found a pullout after navigating a couple different junctions and walked the rest of the way up.
When you get there, you will see the first pool with the travertine mineral formations all around. Skip this pool and head out to the east to find the main, boiling spring. It is a short hike and they have pit toilets at the parking area. There are benches to sit on and there are a half dozen pools made from rock, cement and the stone. You will see amazing patterns in the stone that has been shaped by ages of mineral deposition in reds, whites, yellows and oranges. Because I came near sunset, I had a truly fantastic view of the valley. The mountains on the other side are quite beautiful, and I bet with snow they are spectacular. Careful for the very hot water coming out of the spring, as the temperature varies significant.
Any time you drive on 395 past Bridgeport, you need to veer off and jump in some amazing hot springs at Travertine.

This was as good as it gets. First, directions weren’t the best, there’s a very hot pool right next to the parking lot. Like 2 feet away. No one seems to see that one. It’s even carpeted. We hiked the 300 foot walk or so to the 4 pools that go from luke warm to warmer and arrived at 6am. Only one other person was there and it was great. Unlike a review from yesterday, the current California fire didn’t hurt our views of the mountains. I highly recommend.
Pros:
— The pool steps away from the parking lot is about as handicap accessible as a natural hot spring will ever be. I highly recommend that for any ambulatory but disabled people.
— The 4 main pools were awesome and reasonably secluded
— There are additional pools a bit farther away.
Cons:
— Signs would be nice. There’s an easy way to get to the 4 main pools that doesn’t involve going up steps, but it’s not obvious.
— At 6am it was 50 degrees outside and the pool water was a bit cold. Overall, great, just maybe don’t go there first thing in the morning for the best experience.

Wild natural hot springs with neat small pools, varying in temperature but mostly all pretty hot. You get there by turning onto Jack Sawyer Road, staying left when the road forks, and going into the dirt road for about 1 mile until you come to a vault toilet station at the parking lot. The road does fork a couple of times on the way there so keep an eye for the hot spring signs as you’re driving on the dirt road. The dirt road is easy to drive with a normal car but I heard in the winter you should be on a higher clearance car and good tires. Once you get at the parking lot you’ll see one small pool right there but I recommend taking a little hike and finding the nicer deeper pools around the corner. Not much of a hike, maybe a quarter mile, totally worth it. Beautiful view of the valley and the mountain from the pools. Very relaxing!

My wife and I visited today (on a Sunday afternoon & our seventh anniversary) and had a great time. After exploring the park for 15 minutes, we realized that there were springs setup right at the entrance near where we parked.
There are several small, warm and cold springs if you walk around (these were about two feet in diameter) but they’re not really the exciting part. There weren’t many visitors when we settled into the second hottest pool just beyond the picnic area.
I’d love to go back asap!

Pretty cool place to visit, and it’s free! Trails could be more clearly marked, because there’s a really cool pool down the hill that has a stream flowing into it. Probably the coolest one in the park. If you’re driving by make sure to stop and at least soak your feet if you didn’t bring a swimsuit!

These hot springs are a local’s spot, often ruined by nude tourists and obnoxious partiers. Steer clear of these ones folks.

I just loved this place!!! The natural setting, beautiful rock, and calm atmosphere is awesome. We stopped in after a 12 hour drive from the grand canyon and had a 3.5 hour soak with many other nice patrons and some locals.
I highly recommend coming here for an evening soak under the stars.
Be sure to pick up after you self. the springs are maintained by a local tribe and are very clean. However, they are self monitored so be respectful!
clothing optional.

Fantastic easily accessed hot spring with minimal development and a community of people that care for the landscape surrounding. I saw NO trash. Let’s all keep it that way folks!

This is by far one of my favorite hot springs in California. The many small pools to soak in are hot and full of soft sediment at the bottom. The view is incredible and you feel very much out and away from the world. Due to it’s location it’s almost never crowded. The people who do hang out here are all totally chilled out and mostly local, be nice to them and they will tell you where to find some other great Hot Springs.
I know some people have said it’s dirty, I only know when I was there last it was clean.

Hahaha! this place is amazing in so many ways!
First it’s beautiful and I could geek out over the geological formations all day. The best time for a dip is at night to enjoy the stars, but go during the day so you can fully take in the beauty of the area.
The other reason it’s amazing are the people you’ll meet there. Most are very friendly, almost all will be naked, and some will even be enjoying a mixture of recreational pharmaceuticals!
A few tips: The spring by the parking lot that has been surrounded by concrete and old rugs may be tempting, but it is singe-​your-​hair-​off hot! If you can handle it, then right on, and enjoy your own private pool because once anyone else feels that water they are out of there! (It’s possible there may be a way to cool it down by diverting some of the incoming water with rocks, but we just did not have the time to fool around with all that)
Don’t be afraid of naked people; they WILL be there, all times of the day. And don’t be afraid to get muddy, you’ll be covered in it.
Enjoy!

I suppose the experience here can really vary, depending on who else is enjoying the springs along with you.
The past Unilocal reviews made me a little wary of this place. Specifically, the one about the mud being full of «hippie hair.» It’s true that the relatively easy access of Travertine makes it potentially more crowded than other hot springs in the area. Lucky for us, there were only 3 people at the springs when we visited on a Sunday morning. Best of all, they were cool, mellow folks.
The springs are of a decent size, and vary in temperature. The surrounding area is beautiful and some springs have a nice view of tiny downtown Bridgeport. There’s also a pit toilet (gross, but better than nothing) and a picnic table on site.
Best of all, no hippie hair on our visit!

It turns out that the hot springs in the Eastern Sierras really aren’t much of a secret. Here they are listed on Unilocal,and just about anyone you ask will tell you exactly how to get there. So we were pleasantly surprised to find only 3 other people at Travertine hot springs on a recent Sunday morning. It looks like that may be the time to go!
These hot springs aren’t far from town & you can drive right up to them. The road isn’t paved but it seems like most cars would be able to make the short 2 or so mile drive to the parking lot. There’s even a pit toilet there… hooray for sanitation!
I’m sure this place gets a lot of people traffic as you can see cigarette butts & bottle caps strewn around. But for the most part it is clean, and the view cannot be beat! You can soak in one of the pools & take in the gorgeous view of the Bridgeport valley & the Sierras in the distance. It must be amazing in the winter, so I plan on going back in December.

This review is dedicated to The Commodore, who had told me about this spot before I ventured up to the Eastern Sierras last summer.
Travertine Springs could easily be the most gorgeous of hot springs in the East Sierras — from the sheer beauty of the geologic formation itself to the snow-​capped peaks of the Sierras as your backdrop whilst you soak your worries away.
To get here, head east up into the hills behind the ranger station just south of Bridgeport off 395. After about 1.5−2 miles, you’ll see a sign letting you know you’re heading in the right direction. There are two parking areas that I could see; the one further back has a public toilet. The lower pools are located just about 100 feet from the lot. There’s supposed to be another spring higher up, but I only visited the lower springs during my trip.
The lower spring is divided up into three pools, where the heated waters from the hillside pour directly into the easternmost pool, then slowly drains to the other two pools. Because of this, the temperatures of the other pools are slightly less hot as the water drains. I preferred the temp of the middle pool to the scalding temp of the first pool, but maybe you like a good traditional Japanese soak (where you practically burn your skin off).
Please note that this is an EXTREMELY popular hot spring, and is frequented by locals and tourists day and night, year-​round. You might have to wait your turn if the pools are all full. When I went, I gave a couple their privacy before going in for a bit after they left. I only had to wait an hour, which really isn’t that long considering there are some nice hiking trails throughout the area to keep you busy while you wait. I had the pools to myself for a good half hour before another local came to join in. My kid sat patiently on the ridge between pools 1 and 2 while I enjoyed myself. I will definitely be back in a few weeks!

It’s 9 degrees in Bridgeport and high 20s by the springs. The feeling of being immersed in hot hot water bubbling up from the earth while surrounded by piles of soft white snow is an incredible way to soak in the new year.
On a sunny day it won’t even seem that cold, I could lay outside in my swimsuit and work on my tan. But the snow sure wasn’t melting.
In winter, 4 wheel drive is a must. The road might be plowed up to the gun range and no further. You hippies are on your own the rest of the way. And that might be why there was almost no other people there.