Hot Creek Geothermal Area

Further out on the Fish Hatchery/Airport Road is Hot Creek Geothermal area. Bud Lite and bikinis offer a contemporary reprise of 1970s good-time California. One of the most spectacular hot springs in the country, the Hot Creek Hot Springs are revered by lovers of scaldingly warm water. As with so many aspects of the California casual lifestyle, enjoyment of the hot springs is tempered by their multiple dangers. Signs indicate that scalding water, spontaneous eruptions of gas and steam, arsenic releases, and unsafe footing have claimed fourteen lives over the last thirty years. A safer alternative are the hot tubs located in the area that have been carved out of the local rock or made out of cement by locals. On Benton Crossing Road, Whitmore Hot Springs is a large public swimming pool operated jointly by Mono County and the town of Mammoth Lakes.