- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Sykes Hot Springs
Rating Details »
5 reviews for Sykes Hot Springs
The hot springs are nice but it's the hike, the wilderness, the Big Sur area and the camping spot along the river that make this place special.
Here's a great website that describes the hike in great detail:
http://www.verber.com/...
amazing views, many river crossings, inclines and declines, redwoods and open areas make this treck in special. Camp along the river and take a soak the next day. It's not the most amazing thing in the world, but it's definitely pretty damn close.
Let me rephrase my review since clearly you weekend hippies found it offensive. I would not recommend sykes anymore to anyone who enjoys nature and relaxation since yuppies have invaded it and post reviews on yelp, that has been the case the last few times Ive been there.
When we finally made it the whole 10 miles and our bodies hated us and I never wanted to see another hill again.... its all like -
Syke-s! It's not a hot spring at all! More like a lukewarm spring. I was really looking forward to a hot soak after the hike, but there was no hot to be had.
We saw a lot of people hiking out from the weekend when we were going in on a Monday. "Brother Bear, Sister Bear" rainbow crowd. I was really glad there were only a couple other people there.
My friend and I sat in the spring slightly awkwardly naked with a bunch of SF Tech geeks (all guys) in swim trunks. They were nice and I'm sure they liked looking at our tits.
I was glad no one else was there, I probably wouldn't do it again anytime soon because there is so much other amazing land to explore in California.
We began with 6 people and about a mile and a half into the hike we lost 2.
"Leave us," they said. "We can't do this anymore."
"The hardest part is just the first two miles," we said. "Com'on, it will be over soon."
Total lies. Like Kate said, it was up and down for the entire way. We left them behind and went on ahead.
Another mile in a member in our group twisted his ankle. I thought about leaving him behind but changed my mind because he was the one with all the survival skills. We went on.
There were three rivers to cross and for the third one you just have to roll up your pants and walk across. One member fell in.
Perhaps we all just suck.
We had fun, but the score at the end was Nature 35: Us 0
I finally went and hiked to Sykes Hot Springs last week. I had read about the place and had friends who gave it rave reviews. It was a lovely 10 mile hike in. It is listed in some books as a moderate hike and the overall elevation change isn't much. However, there is a lot of ups and downs and with a large pack on your back... well, you better be in shape.
The hike starts at the Big Sur Station and continues in and out of gorgeous redwood forests and have some stunning views of hill and the ocean. When you get 9.6 miles in, you hit the end of the trail (unless you want to keep going to other locations) and can set up camp or head down river a bit to the Hot Springs. You have to cross the river back and forth quite a few times before you get to the hot springs so bring some shoes that you can walk in the water with.
There are very few spots for soaking in the hot springs here (I only saw 4). I would not recommend going here on a weekend or anytime you think that others may be there. I went mid-week in the Fall and was surprised how many other people were there too. Also, most of the "tubs" that you can get into can only hold at most 2 people. It would kind of suck to be looking forward to soaking after a long hike only to have to wait.
Overall a really beautiful hike and a nice spot to backpack into. Minus one star because I hear it can get crowed and what is the point of backpacking if you end up with a crowd? I guess I was spoiled by growing up in Oregon where hot springs are numerous and only a few that have become Disneyfied will you ever encounter other people. If you have time during the week in the off -season though, it really is a great hike.
