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Deep Creek Hot Springs
Rating Details »
Categories: Local Flavor, Swimming Pools, Parks, Beaches [Edit]
6100 Bowen Ranch RdApple Valley, CA 92307
- Good for Kids:
- No
8 reviews for Deep Creek Hot Springs
The Hot Springs:
Natural cold and hot pools, allowing you to heat, cool, and reheat yourself upon desire.
The Hike: 2miles there and 2miles back. Come back sucks, it's all uphill. If you are hiking back during the heat of day, soak a tshirt or towel with water and drape it over your head/shoulders (you'll thank me for this one)
Great place to have some fun, jump off some rocks and go skinny dipping.
Yea I said it. Nudity isn't anything irregular at these pools so don't be surprised if you see hikers with nothing but a hat and walking stick.
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Big fan of this place. It's at a hike-in only location, and the hike is around 2 miles if you park at Bowen Ranch. Bowen Ranch is a private property, and the owner (this awesome hippie) charges you $5.00 per person per day and $10.00 for overnight camping. If the owner does not come to the door (mostly if it's past 10pm or so) then there are some envelopes and pencil on the steps for you to deposit your payment in the slot on the wall. I went yesterday with a rock climbing group and the hike isn't bad at all, even if you are carrying a ton of ropes and gear. It is very dry there, so make sure you pack PLENTY of water or gatorade - the last thing you'd like is to dehydrate and not be able to enjoy the beautiful hot springs.
After you're done hiking, you'll find several hot spring pools lining the canyon, along with some great boulders/rocks you can climb. One of the pools is around 7' deep and you can actually jump into it... cannonball!! You can also swim along the creek and there's some areas you can jump into as well.
NOTE: the area is clothing OPTIONAL, and a lot of people do exercise their right to NOT wear clothes. Just please try not to stare. They're fantastic people having a good ol' time, swimming and dancing, chatting the day away... naked.
Also, make sure you save water and food for the hike back. It's a pretty steep climb on the way back, and you'll need to restore your energy before heading home. The only reason I didn't give it the 5 stars is because the road to get to Bowen Ranch is a crazy dirt road that almost killed my poor scion tc, so try and carpool with somebody who has a bigger truck. Have FUN!!!
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I hiked this place for the first time in mid June and so far I love it! But first let me tell you one of the reasons why I love it before you start heading out. Its clothing optional at the springs AS WELL as the hike in/out! Im not a weirdo or some kind of perv.. i just enjoy being nude (if you think you like running around your house/apt nude, you have to try outdoor nudity under the sun).
The Drive:
Highly recommend a high clearance vehicle otherwise you may shake something loose or just flat out break something. Yes a car can do it but the dirt road can get bumpy and you may have to drive slower.
Parking:
Parked at Bowen Ranch. Didnt see the Ranch owner so I just put my 5 bucks in the provided envelopes, took a free map, and headed toward the parking area. Drive until you see the sign not allowing any vehicles and choose a parking spot.
The Trail:
Find the little summary board of Deep Creek and that will head you in the right path. The trail is well marked. Just follow the signs and stay on the main paths and it will guide you to salvation! After going down the first big hill, almost right after the parking area, you wont really notice the slight decent that you are making. BUT YOU WILL NOTICE IT ON THE WAY UP!! Bring alot of water and something to eat to re-energize yourslef before heading out. You may come across nude hikers so dont be shocked. Nudity is tolerated at the springs as well as the hike to the springs from Bowen Ranch. I came across one on my Friday trip and the rest were clothed hikers. People that excercise on a regular basis may break a nice sweat on the hike back up, those that dont excercise may shed some tears (dont! you need your liquids).
The Hot Springs:
Beautiful! You can either cross the stream (which is not hot, its actually refreashingly cold in the summer) or take a left and slide down a few hills and rocks to bypass the stream. I recommend you take a dip in the colder stream then make you way throught each of the varying hot pools . Again you may encounter nude people and I would recommend you try it as well. After your done with the pools, check out the bouldr formations upstream...More visual goodness! Im sure there is a name for this area but I dont know it. Soak up some sun here!
Please take out what you brought in (Empty water bottles, powerbar wrappers, food containers...). Volunteers work very hard cleaning up this place and without them, this place would not be nearly as beautiful as it is. Please treat the area and other poeple there with respect.
The last time I went hiking was...in 5th grade at Majestic Canyon. Taking a jog around Mile Square Park or doing an ecology assignment at Malibu Lagoon is the most in touch with nature and as adventurous as I can get in the past 13 years . When the BFF suggested we go hiking to the hot springs, I was a little bit wary due to the warnings of encephalitis, but decided to step out of my city girl comfort zone and venture this whole wilderness thing.
So our group of nine, in two cars, drove an hour northeast of LA/Pomona to San Bernardino, where the little town of Hesperia nestles. You know you're in Hesperia when you no longer see black paved roads, but instead find that you're now riding on narrow, bumpy dirt roads. Rice-rocket vehicles of any kind, BEWARE. Your bumpers may fly off and hit one of the surrounding shacks and homes. My friend's RSX took quite a beating. Poor baby. Ouch.
We drove by this small abandoned brick building that looks like it just got struck by a tornado. The walls inside and out was vandalized with grifiti'd with profanity, peace symbols, swastika, KKK (damn racists!), and other random absurdities. We called this place the "K-Dub" Shack because "k-dub" was distinctly spray painted at the front.There was debri everywhere surrounding the shack, along with a beat up mattress that I gleefully bounced on like a trampoline. The rusted springs were very still very sturdy.
After following some windy roads for twenty minutes or so in Hesperia, your first stop would be at Bowen Ranch, where you would pay your dues of $5 per head and to this tall white man in overalls and rag doll hair. If he were to play a character in a slasher movie, he would perfectly fit the role of a serial killer. With further ado, he will proceed to hand you a map and a few white plastic trash bags to throw our in the entire trip, along with some verbal instructions.
Supposedly the hike to would be 30 minutes and hike back is 60, but it took us n00bies double the time. At certain parts, the hike will get bumpy and narrow, but it's still very manageable to get through. The area was clean, without a single litter in sight.
Once we made it down the hill and were by the rocky river, we stopped for a break and took out our packed lunches. We realized we were at the hot springs when glancing over to the left...
*full frontal man in view with distinguished black "patch" by crotch area*
Friend: Hey, that man is wearing a thong! Eww!
Me: No, that's his bush!
*random man turns around*
Friend: Oh shit!
We notice more and more buff bodies surface. After we finished up our lunches and headed toward the "naked people". The hot springs was separated by a river, where a male patron told us we would have to walk across the river and that it's only waist level, so we can carry out belongings over our heads.
What he didn't mention was that 1) the river was ice cold and freezing to a point if you were stay in there longer than two minutes, you were go into hypothermic arrest and 2) the water actually goes up to neck levels for my five-foot-two frame.
One after another, we treaded across the icy cold water. When we finally made it to the other side, I noticed two things 1) I have never seen so many naked people and penises in my entire life and 2) this water is HAWT! Please beware because the area leading up to the hot springs is VERY slippery. My friend actually slipped and tore his cuticle and bled.
We only traveled enough to see three hot springs, and stayed in one most of the time. The rocky tub was layered with this deep green black moss or algae of some kind. You have to climb through the rock walls to get to the other hot springs, which can be quite slippery due to the moss/algae. People, mostly men, literally walk around in the buff, with no regards. We were told that most patrons are hippies. There were lotsa dogs and no kids.
A female patron told me I can climb these rocks and jump into the water from atom, as her supposed friend did. So I climbed up this cemented rock up towards the highest area I can get to. My heart started beating fast at the prospect of possibly hitting a rock bottom in view. I was told I can angle my jump toward the deeper area. Boy, was I scared! Which didn't help that everyone was yelling for me to stop. But if I hesitate at this age, when am I ever going to take a chance? So why not! Closed my eyes and JUMPED. The next thing I know, I was alive and afloat. What I learned 1) it may have been stupid, but it was worth it because I'm a step closer to riding my fear of heights 2) you can't get encephalitis from accidentally swallowing the water 3) never attempt this again unless someone else jumps first.
Two hours, a bottle of wine, and countless naked people later, we decided to head back. The hike back was uphill, since it was downhill to. Overall, everyone had a really fun time.
Dock one star for lack of wildlife and few naked females to even ratio!
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A great hike accessible by foot. Down in the cyn. hot water seeps from the ground and rocks near a turn in the creek and a great soaking pool. Clothing is a definate option. Those wanting it hotter can use various small basins on a rock platform just above the Creek you can jump off of. There are several small sandy beach areas for stretching out in the sun and easy access to the cool waters of Deep Creek. Im going there Saturday, July 18th, and 19th @ 2:00PM for the weekend if anyone wants 2 come,,, Check my events :)
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This is my hundredth review, so I needed to do something different. Well, this place is definitely different. It is about 2 1/2 hours North/East of Los Angeles (the last half an hour of which is on a dirty road). It is void of all civilization (including cell-phone reception, stores, bathrooms, and even trashcans). And, as Ubersheist mentioned, it has its share of naked elderly men (who are clearly hippies). It is also about a 45 minute hike from where you park, so it's not that easy to get to.
But the place is beautiful so relaxing. Everyone is very careful about littering, so even though there is no trashcans, there is also no trash (you carry out whatever you bring in). Being hippies, everyone there is really nice, and more than willing to help the newcomers. But more than anything, the hot springs are really relaxing the jumping into a cold river right after sitting in a natural hot spring is like nothing else you can imagine.
Great place to bring a date (as long as you're ready to spend a good amount of time together) or when you have an entire day just to hang out with your friends.
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I took Highway 173 until it turns into a dirt road (which leads to lake arrowhead), and there is a trailhead to the PCT. Parking is free here - I don't think you even need an Adventure Pass, although i put mine up just in case. From there, it is an awesome six mile hike to get to the hot springs. The trail was empty (I saw only one other couple hiking the entire time i was there), and full of wildlife: deers, frogs, bunnies, squirrels, pollywogs, vultures... everywhere I looked I could see beady little eyes on me! The trail gets kind of confusing at times, at which point we just forded up the creek (mostly waist-deep) until we found it again (wear water-proof shoes, you have to cross the creek a bunch of times!). Oh and the creek is full of snakes! BIG snakes!!! Snakes that SWIM, and wrap around your ankles if you hold still for a while!!! I am assuming they're harmless or maybe their mouths couldn't fit around my fat calves, but anyways they didn't try to bite me. I took a star off because, since you have to hike through bushes and shrubs and treelimbs, about a million ticks fell on me (I brushed them all off... I THINK... but I keep imagining feeling something tickly and eight legged crawling around on my back....) and my dog (he's frontlined, but apparently we are dealing with mutant ticks immune to frontline), and hitchhiked home in my backpack and they are probably breeding and infesting inside the seats of my car right now.....
Deep Creek Hot Springs may be heaven on earth. The soothing water, the bronzed bodies frolicking in the adjacent swimming hole, and the sheer beauty of the location combine to create a place unlike any other on Earth.
This hot spring is typical of other "natural" or undeveloped hot springs in that the bathers are typically naked, overweight elderly people with a healthy dose of hippies thrown in for good measure, and are mostly men. The difference is what was described above. They're fairly extensive with 6-7 pools to choose from depending on the creek level, as a few of the pools can get washed out in the spring floods.
I'd rate this place a full five stars if it wasn't for two issues:
1. The guy who takes your money at the Bowen Ranch (where the "goat trail" to the springs starts) isn't always the friendliest and obviously doesn't have any desire to start employing good customer service habits.
2. The springs can get extremely crowded, overused and abused. Sometimes tour buses come through and make a stop here. On those good-weather-but-not-too-hot Spring or Fall days, there can be 100+ people down there. Crazy.
Otherwise, I love this place and try to return there whenever I get the chance.
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